Parliamentarian warns of "genocide" of the Ukrainian nation 1:31
Washington (CNN) --
President Joe Biden's statement Tuesday that the atrocities being committed in Ukraine constitute "genocide" is not expected to prompt any immediate change in US policy toward the conflict, say US officials familiar with the matter.
Instead, Biden's comment, which he said was not an official legal statement, reflects his growing outrage at scenes of brutality emerging as Russian troops leave devastated Ukrainian cities.
The comment came before the United States on Wednesday unveiled its latest tranche of military aid to Ukraine, a package that could total more than $700 million and is expected to include armored vehicles, drones and other weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom Biden spoke by phone for an hour on Wednesday, immediately praised the comment.
"We assessed Russian war crimes. We discussed an additional defense aid package and possible macro-financial assistance. We agreed to increase sanctions," Zelensky wrote on Twitter afterward.
Biden calls atrocities in Ukraine "genocide" for the first time
However, Biden's claim that genocide is taking place, the first time he has used that term to describe atrocities in Ukraine, does not appear to alter his long-held position that US forces will not intervene directly to end the suffering.
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Speaking in Iowa, Biden made clear that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing genocide, but said he would "let the lawyers decide" to use that designation internationally.
"It seems to me so," Biden said, citing mounting evidence in the past week, saying it had become "increasingly clear that Putin is just trying to eliminate the idea that he can even be Ukrainian."
However, by noting that lawyers will make the final determination, Biden was indicating that the US will not register a formal declaration of genocide yet, the officials said.
The United States has only made eight formal genocide determinations, the most recent of which was applying that label to the persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya minority.
That process took years, including a considerable amount of evidence-gathering and a lengthy back-and-forth between administration lawyers and officials about the possible ramifications of applying the classification.
Similarly, the declaration in 2021 that China is committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in the western province of Xinjiang was preceded by extensive deliberations among State Department lawyers.
In both cases, political considerations came into play, according to people familiar with the matter.
Lawyers were initially wary that China's actions in Xinjiang rose to the level of genocide, although Biden reaffirmed the classification when he took office.
What you should know about US sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang
And some officials raised concerns that labeling the atrocities in Myanmar as genocide could bring the country closer to Beijing, though those concerns ultimately lost under pressure from human rights advocates and US lawmakers to make the designation last month.
Before Biden's comments on Tuesday, his advisers held up Myanmar's designation as an example of the process they would use to determine whether genocide was taking place in Ukraine.
"That was a long process based on the accumulation of evidence over a considerable period of time and that involved, frankly, mass death, mass incarceration of a significant part of the Rohingya population," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
"And we will look at a number of indicators along those lines to finally make a determination in Ukraine."
In his Sunday appearance on CNN, Sullivan tried to play down the characterization of Russian atrocities as genocide.
"In my opinion, the label is less important than the fact that these acts are cruel and criminal and wrong and evil and must be responded to with determination," he told Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."
America's hesitation in labeling atrocities "genocide" stems from the narrow legal definition of the term, which was drafted after the Holocaust in 1948. The United Nations Genocide Convention defines genocide as crimes committed "with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".
The convention details the specific acts that constitute genocide: "Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately imposing on the group conditions of life that will bring about its total or partial physical destruction; Imposing measures designed to to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transfer the children of the group to another group".
The United Nations, on its website, says that establishing intent is "the most difficult element to determine" when declaring genocide.
And the international convention obliges countries to intervene once it is determined that genocide is being committed, stating that "genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law that undertake to prevent and punish".
What is the difference between genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity?
Biden has been adamant that US troops, whether acting alone or as part of NATO, will not be directly involved in the conflict, suggesting that intervening militarily could trigger "World War III".
Biden's use of the word "genocide" has already drawn a reaction from a key US ally.
"I want to keep trying, as far as possible, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric will help that cause," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
In Ukraine, Biden's comment was welcomed by Zelensky, who tweeted praise for Biden's comment almost immediately.
"True words from a true leader," he wrote.
"Calling things by his name is essential to confronting evil. We are grateful for the American help provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities."
Genocide War in Ukraine Joe Biden