By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Republican U.S. lawmakers, including the only Ukrainian-American in Congress, said on Wednesday they would introduce a resolution calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz, the only Ukrainian-American in Congress, and Senator Lindsey Graham held a news conference on their resolution amid debate in the U.S. Congress about how best to support Ukraine, including plans to approve billions of dollars in humanitarian and defense aid for the Kyiv government in the wake of the Russian invasion.
They said they would introduce resolutions in the Senate and House of Representatives supporting calls for the International Criminal Court to investigate.
“The whole international community needs to come down on this,” Spartz said, after reading chilling messages she had received from Ukraine about attacks that have injured civilians, forcing them to flee for their lives.
The office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Monday it would seek court approval to open an investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, rights groups have alleged violations of international war crimes law, including the targeting of civilians, as well as indiscriminate attacks on schools and hospitals.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that he believed Putin’s actions toward Ukraine already qualified as a war crime. And Canada said on Tuesday it had decided to refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
