News - Middle East: Russia says the United States with its long history of bombing civilians around the world has no right to lecture Russia, denouncing as “inexcusable” US President Joe Biden’s claim that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal.”

Biden on Wednesday condemned Putin for his military operation in Ukraine, telling reporters that the Russian leader “is a war criminal,” a controversial comment made by the White House for the first time publicly that drew a harsh response from the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday lashed out at Biden’s “rhetoric” as “impermissible, unacceptable, and inexcusable,” stressing that Washington has no right to lecture Russia after the US’s long involvement in so many conflicts across the world.

“The United States has long bombed civilians and used nuclear weapons in Japan at the end of WW2 – so the US president has no right to lecture Russia,” Peskov said.

Putin announced a “special military operation” on February 24 aimed at the “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, largely populated by ethnic Russians, in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, the two regions – collectively known as the Donbas – declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government.

The US and its European allies have labeled the military offensive as Putin’s imperial-style land grab, saying it has so far been poorly executed because the Kremlin underestimated Ukrainian resistance and Western resolve to punish Russia with unprecedented waves of sanctions.

Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of negotiations since the beginning of the ongoing operation with the latest bout ending late Tuesday and Kiev pointing to “fundamental contradictions.”

Russia putting ‘colossal effort’ into peace talks

Commenting on the peace talks between the two countries, Peskov said Russia was putting colossal energy into talks on a possible peace deal with Ukraine that could immediately halt the war.

“Our delegation is putting in colossal effort and demonstrates more readiness towards them than the other side,” he said, adding that “Agreeing such a document, the observance of all its parameters and their implementation could very quickly stop what is happening.”