New Delhi: In a fresh blow to the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.
What does it mean?
Introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, the resolution garnered support of senators from both parties urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and other nations to target the Russian military in any investigation of war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.
"All of us in this chamber joined together, with Democrats and Republicans, to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in his speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.
On the other hand, Russia terms its actions as a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine. Putin has also termed Ukraine as a US colony with a puppet regime and no tradition of independent statehood.
Moscow did not capture any of the 10 biggest cities in Ukraine following its incursion that began on February 24, the largest assault on a European state since 1945.
Meanwhile, NATO is concerned about Russia carrying out a chemical attack in Ukraine, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
"We are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation possibly including chemical weapons," said the NATO chief ahead of the alliance's defence ministers meet, according to AFP. The NATO chief cited "absurd claims" from Russia that Ukraine possesses biological weapons labs.
While noting that NATO remains "very vigilant" on that risk, the Stoltenberg stressed that Russia would have "a high price to pay" if it carried out such a "violation of international law".