Alleged Russian war crimes and US aid to Ukraine in the spotlight almost a year after the invasion

Russia’s war against Ukraine dominated Sunday morning political talk shows, with US lawmakers and officials discussing Russia’s alleged war crimes, continued US support for Kiev, and renewed concerns about potential lethal Chinese aid to Moscow nearly a year after the invasion began.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on CBS Sunday’s “Face the Nation” that it was “perfectly clear” that Russia committed crimes against humanity during the war.

Blinken was among a number of US officials and lawmakers who traveled to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, which focused on the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“The decision that we have taken – crimes against humanity – announced by the Vice President today, is unfortunately very clear,” the Secretary of State said. This was announced on Saturday by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) stressed on ABC’s This Week that the US should declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism and start training Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots.

“We are talking about the Vice President of the United States saying that Russia is involved in crimes against humanity in Germany everywhere, you know, echoes of the Second World War. How can she say that – and she’s right – and not give the victim of a crime against humanity the defensive weapon they need to stop the crime?” Graham said, referring to Harris.

“Therefore, we need to quickly do two things: make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism in accordance with US law, which will make it difficult for China to provide weapons to Russia, and we need to start training Ukrainian F-16 pilots now,” the senator said.

The Biden administration last month approved sending battle tanks to Ukraine, but now some are pushing the Pentagon to respond to Kyiv’s calls for F-16 fighter jets.

“We need to throw everything we can into this fight so they can win,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCall (R-Tex.) said of Ukraine on CNN’s Sunday State of the Union program. adding that he hoped the US would switch to supplying fighter jets. “And I think the momentum for that is building.”

In another interview aired Sunday on NBC News, Blinken said the US was also “very concerned” that Beijing was “strongly considering” providing Moscow with “deadly aid” that could include both ammunition and weapons.

The discovery comes as tensions escalate between the US and China after the Biden administration shot down a Chinese reconnaissance balloon that overflew important targets in US airspace despite claims by Beijing that it was a civilian weather balloon that had gone off course.

Blinken postponed a planned visit to China earlier this month due to controversy.

“China is trying to achieve both. Publicly, they present themselves as a country seeking peace in Ukraine. But in private, as I said, in recent months we have already seen the provision of non-lethal assistance that goes directly to help and incite the Russian war effort,” said Blinken from Munich.

“And some of the additional information that we are sharing today … indicates that they are seriously considering providing lethal assistance to Russia,” Blinken said, although he clarified that it appears that China has not “crossed that line” yet.

The Secretary of State met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the world conference, their first face-to-face meeting since the balloon incident.

Blinken and US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Sunday warned of “consequences” if China moves to provide deadly aid to Russia.

“We’re not going to go ahead and announce what we plan to do, but we’ve made it clear to the Chinese that there will be consequences if they make this unfortunate decision,” Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN’s State of the Union program.

“Our message to China is that China should not do anything that could provide lethal support to the Russians to help them in their brutal attacks on the Ukrainian people,” the ambassador said, noting that Blinken and President Biden “made this clear.” message” into negotiations with Chinese officials.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in Poland on Tuesday to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver a speech on global unity in Warsaw.

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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC’s The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart that the President has no plans to cross the Ukrainian border, but he will affirm “a high degree of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.” and work on “activating support” for Kyiv.

Kirby told Fox News Sunday that the US wants the war to end, but the Biden administration will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” even as some GOP officials are pushing for aid cuts.

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