Kremlin anger after Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a 'war criminal'
US President Joe Biden has branded his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" over his invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
"I think he is a war criminal," Biden said in an off-the-cuff response to a reporter's question.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was "speaking from his heart" after seeing images on television of "barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country".
It's the sharpest condemnation yet of Putin and Russian actions by a US official since the invasion of Ukraine.
While other world leaders have used the words, the White House had been hesitant to declare Putin's actions those of a war criminal, saying it was a legal term that required research.
The Kremlin has called the labelling "unforgivable rhetoric".
"We believe such rhetoric to be unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass.
The US President had earlier signed off a €723 million security aid package, bringing the US’s total contribution to more than one billion.
The package is a key element in helping Ukraine get a long-range air defence system and access to drones.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was still not enough.
"To establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine in order to save people, is it too much to ask? A humanitarian no-fly zone is a condition under which Russia will no longer be able to terrorize our peaceful cities every day and night," said Zelenskyy.
Putin ordered a large scale invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago, saying Russia wants to force the disarmament of Ukraine's military and topple the pro-Western
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