Russia's Foreign Ministry has summoned U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan over recent comments by President Joe Biden calling Russian President Vladimir Putin "a war criminal" for Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry said in a statement on March 21 that it issued a démarche and handed a note of protest to Sullivan "in connection with the recent unacceptable remarks by the head of the White House, Joe Biden, regarding the president of Russia."
"Such statements by the American president, which are not worthy of a high-ranking statesman, have put Russian-American relations on the verge of rupture," the statement added.
Biden called Putin a "war criminal" when talking to journalists on March 16.
A day later, he referred to Putin as a "pure thug" and a "murderous dictator," though he did not repeat the "war criminal" accusation.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at the time that Biden was "speaking from his heart" after seeing images on television of the "barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country."
Since Putin launched the large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, several civilian targets -- including hospitals, schools, apartment buildings, and other civic structures -- have been hit by Russian air attacks.
Russia denies targeting civilians, despite ample evidence to the contrary as documented by media and in eyewitness accounts and social media videos from inside Ukraine.
