US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday that the White House has evidence that Russia committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine and insisted that "justice must be served" for those responsible.
Source. She said this while speaking at the Munich Security Conference, CNBC reports.
Details. Harris listed specific episodes, including the massacre of civilians in Bucha and the bombing of a drama theater in Mariupol.
"Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people, including children, from Ukraine to Russia," she added. – "They brutally separated children from their families.
"We have studied the evidence. We know the legal standards. And there is no doubt that these are crimes against humanity," the US Vice President emphasized, adding that Russia is conducting "widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine."
According to Harris, the US administration will continue to assist Kyiv in investigating the atrocities committed.
"I say to all those who committed these crimes and their leadership involved in these crimes – you will be brought to justice," the politician promised.
"Let us all agree that justice must be served on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown," she said.
"No nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, where a country with imperialistic ambitions can go unpunished," Harris added.
"If Russian President Putin succeeds in trampling on international rules and norms, other countries will dare to follow his brutal example," she said. – "Other authoritarian states may try to bend the world to their will through coercion, disinformation and even brute force.
The 59th Munich Security Conference opened on Friday, February 17. The central topic of discussion was the war in Ukraine. Russia was not invited to the conference for the first time in more than 20 years.
Background. Speaking at the conference, the British Prime Minister reportedly said that Britain would be the first country to provide Ukraine with long-range weapons.