During the meeting with NATO and EU leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, we discussed the question of Russia's liability for war crimes committed in Ukraine - Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday evening. He added that said liability would include "not only Russian leaders, not only Vladimir Putin and his circle, not only the generals, but also officers and soldiers".
U.S. President Joe Biden consulted with U.S. allies on Tuesday on the latest developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the White House said on Tuesday as Moscow launched an all-out assault on eastern Ukraine.
The purpose of the call was "to discuss our continued support for Ukraine and efforts to hold Russia accountable as part of our close coordination," the White House said.
Among those on the call were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as the leaders of Japan and Italy.
Poland's president said that during the talks the leaders discussed the question of Russia's liability for war crimes committed in Ukraine, which would include "not only Russian leaders, not only Vladimir Putin and his circle, not only the generals, but also officers and soldiers". "So that it's clear that crimes will be prosecuted," he explained.
Duda added that prosecutors were collecting evidence in Ukraine and the European and world leaders were highly determined to make sure the crimes not go unpunished.
Polish president said the leaders had also discussed boycotting session of the G20 and G7 groups should Russia decided to take part. "In short, to divest Russia of any acceptance in the international arena," he added.
"There was also a whole array of declarations of support for Ukraine, both humanitarian and material. Ukraine can certainly count on that," he said.
"If Russia succeeds, it will attack further. It will not satisfy itself with Ukraine, it will not satisfy its imperialistic ambitions, it will probably attack other countries, which of course the international community absolutely cannot tolerate," Duda said.
The president also expressed his hope that the sanctions against Russia would be extended.
Russia seized its first town in eastern Ukraine as part of a fresh all-out assault that Ukraine has described as the Battle of the Donbas aimed at taking two provinces.
The United States sees Russia carrying out a "prelude" to larger, expected offensive operations in the eastern part of its neighboring country, a senior U.S. official on Tuesday.
Biden's video call began at 9:57 a.m. EDT (1357 GMT) and ended at 11:21 a.m. EDT (1521 GMT), with Biden speaking from the White House Situation Room.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVP