Russians spit out ‘scum and traitors’ like gnats, Putin warns West

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But declaring someone a criminal war is not as simple as just saying the words. There are set definitions and processes for determining who is a criminal war and how they should be punished.

The White House had been avoiding applying the designation to Putin, saying it requires investigation and an international determination.

After Mr Biden used the term, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was “speaking from his heart” and renewed her statements that there is a process for making a formal determination.

In popular usage, though, the phrase has a taken on a colloquial meaning as a generic term for someone who is awful.

“Clearly Putin is a criminal war, but the president is speaking politically on this,” said David Crane, who has worked on war crimes for decades and served as chief prosecutor for the UN.

The term criminal war applies to anyone who violates a set of rules adopted by world leaders known as the law of armed conflict. The rules govern how countries behave in times of war.

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