Biden calls Putin a 'war criminal' after announcing a blockbuster military aid package to help Ukraine fight Russia

• President Joe Biden on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal."
• It's the first time Biden classified Putin as such since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three weeks ago.

President Joe Biden delivered his harshest condemnation yet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a "war criminal" on Wednesday afternoon.

"He is a war criminal," Biden said to reporters briefly at the White House after announcing a sweeping new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine.

The accusation is the first time Biden has classified Putin as such and comes as Russian forces continue to bombard Ukrainian civilians and cities.

"We're united in our abhorrence of Putin's depraved onslaught and we'll continue to have their backs as they fight for freedom, democracy, their very survival," he said earlier while announcing the new aid package.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, responded to Biden's comments on Wednesday, calling them "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric by the leader of a country from whose bombs hundreds of thousands of people have died," the Russian state-owned news agency Ria Novosti reported, according to Financial Times reporter Max Seddon.

Until now, Biden had avoided lobbying the accusation against Putin, citing an ongoing investigation into Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Hours earlier, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told CNN reporter Manu Raju that Putin is a war criminal and urged Biden to "absolutely" call him such.

CSPAN captured footage of the impromptu encounter in which Biden initially responded "no" to a reporter's question of whether or not the president was ready to call Putin a war criminal.

Moments later, however, Biden returned to clarify, asking the journalist to repeat her question, upon which he made the comments.

After Biden's comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN that the president was "speaking from the heart." She said Biden's statement was shaped by the "barbaric" attacks Russia has committed throughout Ukraine.

Later on Wednesday, Biden tweeted about Putin's "atrocities" — though he refrained from calling the Russian president a war criminal for a second time.

"Putin is inflicting appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings and maternity wards," Biden tweeted. "Yesterday, we saw reports that Russian forces were holding hundreds of doctors and patients hostage."

"These are atrocities," he added. "It is an outrage to the world."

Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice ordered Russia on Wednesday to immediately stop its attack on Ukraine as it investigates claims of genocide.

Since Putin's war declaration on Ukraine nearly three weeks ago, Russian attacks on civilians have led Ukrainian officials and leaders to accuse them of war crimes and crimes against humanity.