House Democrat: ‘War criminal Putin cannot be trusted’
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) on Sunday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “war criminal” who “cannot be trusted” as Moscow continues its yearlong war in Ukraine and after Putin announced plans to set up tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
“War criminal Putin cannot be trusted. We know how we got into this war with his aggression starting out in Belarus. We will pay very close attention to what has taken place. To me, it is very serious because we can see that he cannot be trusted. He’s already committed war crimes,” Meeks said on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”
Putin on Saturday announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, seen as a warning to Western continues continuing to back Ukraine. Putin said the move was a reaction to Britain’s recent decision to send Ukraine uranium-based ammunition.
Meeks said he’s not seen “any movement with regards to actually utilizing tactical nukes” at this point, though Ukraine has accused Moscow of “nuclear blackmail.”
Meeks noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president over alleged war crimes, including the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, underscoring his distrust of Putin.
“We’ve been watching and talking very closely. But do I, if you’re asking me, do I have concerns? Yes, because I don’t trust him. But I know we have intelligence and I know that that there will be some action taking place if, in fact, we think that he actually will move them there and or any indication of him utilizing any type of tactical nukes,” Meeks said.