Both the Biden administration and past presidents have tried to avoid using the term "genocide" when describing Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Biden said during a speech in Iowa that no one should depend on whether a dictator declares war or commits genocide.
Biden was talking about the actions his administration has taken to lower gas prices. It is not clear if his words were a change in the policy of his administration. White House aides tried to walk back Biden's call for regime change in Russia.
As of last week, Biden was not going to call Russia's war crimes genocide.
Biden told reporters that it was a war crime when asked about the graphic scenes.
Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, declined to call Russia's actions a genocide.
Sullivan told CNN that the label is less important than the fact that the acts are cruel and criminal and need to be responded to.
—JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) April 4, 2022
Sullivan told ABC that he was avoiding using the term because he wanted to wait for a formal investigation from the State Department.
He said that they haven't reached a determination on genocide.
White House officials are horrified by the graphic images and details that are emerging from Ukraine. Biden called on Putin to be tried for war crimes after Zelenskyy showed reporters the bodies of those killed. Zelenskyy called Russian actions a genocide.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Russia's actions in Bucha didn't look like genocide.
The US has been hesitant to call something a genocide. President Bill Clinton regretted not doing more to stop the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda.
Biden finally made a formal designation for the early 1900s atrocities after multiple future presidents promised to call them a genocide.
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