波兰华沙——美国副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯周四支持对国际战争罪的呼吁调查俄罗斯入侵了乌克兰列举了轰炸平民的“暴行”，包括一家妇产医院。
在华沙举行的新闻发布会上，哈里斯与波兰总统安杰伊·杜达并肩发表讲话，表达了美国对北约东翼盟友的支持。哈里斯对周三妇产医院的爆炸事件、流血的孕妇被疏散的场景以及其他针对平民的袭击表示愤慨。她没有直接指责俄罗斯犯有战争罪。
“绝对应该进行调查，我们都应该关注，”哈里斯说，并指出联合国已经开始了审查指控的进程。“毫无疑问，全世界都在关注这场战争，关注俄罗斯在这场侵略和这些暴行方面的所作所为。”
哈里斯对波兰的访问正值华沙和华盛顿之间因波兰提议将其苏联制造的战斗机派往德国的美国和北约基地以便他们可以前往乌克兰而发生混乱。反过来，波兰将接收美国的F-16战斗机。
波兰在没有事先咨询美国的情况下公开提出了这一提议。就在哈里斯周三晚些时候抵达华沙时，五角大楼明确拒绝了这一想法，称这将有使俄乌战争升级的风险。
在周四的新闻发布会上，哈里斯和杜达都试图搁置在战斗机问题上的分歧。
她说:“我想非常清楚地表明，美国和波兰在我们已经做的和准备做的帮助乌克兰和乌克兰人民的事情上是一致的，就这样。”。
杜达方面回避了为什么波兰没有首先咨询美国就宣布其提议的问题。他强调，他的政府的意图是由“北约作为一个整体就此事做出共同决定”的愿望所驱动的。
杜达说:“简而言之，我们必须成为北大西洋联盟中一个负责任的成员。”。
哈里斯支持对战争罪进行调查，此前拜登政府周三警告说，俄罗斯可能会寻求在乌克兰使用化学或生物武器，因为白宫拒绝了俄罗斯对其入侵的国家非法发展化学武器的指控。
在俄罗斯外交部发言人玛丽亚·扎哈罗娃(Maria Zakharova)在没有证据的情况下指责乌克兰在美国的支持下经营化学和生物武器实验室后，白宫提出了这一想法。
国际刑事法院(International Criminal Court)检察官上周宣布，他将启动一项调查，目标可能是被认为对战争罪、反人类罪或种族灭绝罪负有责任的高级官员。在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰期间，平民死亡人数不断上升，财产遭到大规模破坏。
但是国际刑事法庭的调查需要很多年，而且相对来说很少有人被定罪。国际刑事法院成立于2002年，旨在起诉战争罪、反人类罪和种族灭绝罪。侵略罪，在乌克兰不能调查，因为俄罗斯和乌克兰都不是法院成员，是后来加上去的。
白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)称医院爆炸事件是“可怕的”,并表示美国正在进行“法律审查程序”,以决定是否将这次爆炸事件定性为战争罪。
杜达说，“对我们来说，俄罗斯人在乌克兰犯下战争罪行是显而易见的。”他补充说，在他看来，入侵“带有种族灭绝的特征——其目的是消灭和摧毁一个国家。”
哈里斯称赞波兰人民的慷慨，自从俄罗斯上个月入侵乌克兰以来，他们已经接纳了近150万难民。
哈里斯早些时候在美国众议院通过一项包括136亿美元援助乌克兰及其欧洲盟友的大规模支出法案几小时后与波兰总理马特乌斯·莫拉维茨基会晤时说:“我一直在关注或阅读普通人做非凡事情的工作，所以我带给你美国人民的感谢。”
该法案包括68亿美元用于照顾难民和对盟国的其他经济援助。
哈里斯星期四还会见了自俄罗斯入侵开始以来从乌克兰逃到波兰的七名难民。她称赞难民的“勇气”，并表示这次谈话将有助于美国的援助工作。该团体包括一名乌克兰残疾人代言人、一名摩洛哥大学生、一名来自敖德萨的专业电影制片人、一名塞内加尔社区领袖和教师、一名来自基辅的LGBTQIA+权利活动家，以及一名乌克兰能源专家和她年轻的成年女儿。
“我们在这里支持你，你并不孤单，”哈里斯告诉该组织。“我知道你的经历让你感到孤独。你并不孤单。我们全世界都在关注。”
副总统在华沙还会见了加拿大总理贾斯廷·特鲁多。加拿大领导人最近几天一直在欧洲就乌克兰问题与盟友开会。特鲁多称赞拜登政府凝聚了欧洲基本一致的回应。
“弗拉基米尔·普京完全低估了乌克兰人民的力量和决心，”特鲁多说。“但他也低估了民主国家站出来支持乌克兰的力量和决心，(以及)支持我们所做一切的价值观和原则。”
哈里斯对波兰和罗马尼亚的旋风式访问被白宫宣传为副总统与来自北约东翼国家的两位领导人就俄罗斯入侵乌克兰造成的日益严重的人道主义危机进行磋商的机会。
已经有200多万难民逃离乌克兰，其中一半以上抵达波兰，预计未来几天还会有更多难民抵达。
杜达警告说，如果波兰得不到更多的帮助，为逃离冲突的乌克兰人提供住房和食物，将会出现“难民灾难”。他说，他要求哈里斯为那些想去美国并可能有家人在那里的乌克兰难民“加快”进程。
哈里斯说:“就波兰承担的负担而言，美国绝对准备尽我们所能和我们必须做的来支持波兰。”。
哈里斯将于周五前往布加勒斯特，在那里她将会晤罗马尼亚总统克劳斯·约翰尼斯。
US VP Harris embraces call for war crimes probe of Russia
WARSAW, Poland -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday embraced calls for an international war crimesinvestigationof Russia over its invasion ofUkraine, citing the “atrocities” of bombing civilians, including a maternity hospital.
Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda at a press conference in Warsaw, where she is demonstrating U.S. support for NATO's eastern flank allies, Harris expressed outrage over the bombing Wednesday of the maternity hospital and scenes of bloodied pregnant women being evacuated, as well as other attacks on civilians. She stopped short of directly accusing Russia of having committed war crimes.
“Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,” said Harris, noting that the United Nations has already started a process to review allegations. “I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities.”
Harris' visit to Poland came amid a kerfuffle between Warsaw and Washington over a Polish proposal to send its Soviet-made fighter jets to a U.S. and NATO base in Germany so they could then go to Ukraine. Poland, in turn, would receive American F-16s.
Poland had publicly floated the proposal without first consulting the U.S. Just as Harris arrived in Warsaw late Wednesday, the Pentagon definitively rejected the idea, saying it would run the risk of escalating the Russia-Ukraine war.
At Thursday's news conference, both Harris and Duda sought to brush aside differences on the fighter jets issue.
“I want to be very clear, the United States and Poland are united in what we have done and are prepared to do to help Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, full stop,” she said.
Duda for his part sidestepped questions about why Poland announced its proposal without first consulting the United States. He stressed his government's intention was driven by a desire for “NATO as a whole to make a common decision” on the matter.
“In a nutshell we have to be a responsible member of the North Atlantic Alliance,” Duda said.
Harris' embrace for an investigation of war crimes came after the Biden administration on Wednesday warned that Russia might seek to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine as the White House rejected Russian claims of illegal chemical weapons development in the country it has invaded.
The White House raised the notion after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova — without evidence — accused Ukraine of running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor announced last week he was launching an investigation that could target senior officials believed responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide amid a rising civilian death toll and widespread destruction of property during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But investigations at the ICC take many years, and relatively few convictions have ever been won. The ICC was set up in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The crime of aggression, which can’t be investigated in Ukraine because neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member of the court, was added later.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the hospital bombing “horrific” and said the U.S. is going through a "legal review process” to determine whether to label the bombing a war crime.
Duda said “it is obvious to us that in Ukraine Russians are committing war crimes.” He added that in his view the invasion was “bearing the features of a genocide — it aims at eliminating and destroying a nation.”
Harris praised the Polish people for their generosity for taking in nearly 1.5 million refugees since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
“I’ve been watching or reading about the work of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and so I bring you thanks from the American people,” Harris said earlier during a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hours after the U.S. House passed a massive spending bill that includes $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine and its European allies.
The legislation includes $6.8 billion to care for refugees and other economic aid to allies.
Harris also met Thursday with seven refugees who have fled from Ukraine to Poland since the Russian invasion began. She praised the refugees for their “courage” and said the conversation would help inform U.S. assistance efforts. The group included a Ukrainian advocate for people with disabilities, a Moroccan university student, a professional film producer from Odessa, a Senegalese community leader and teacher, a LGBTQIA+ rights activist from Kyiv, and a Ukrainian energy expert and her young adult daughter.
“We are here to support you, and you are not alone,” Harris told the group. “And I know there’s so much about the experience that you’ve had that has made you feel alone. You are not alone. We around the world are watching.”
The vice president also met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while in Warsaw. The Canadian leader has been in Europe in recent days meeting with allies about Ukraine. Trudeau credited the Biden administration for rallying Europe's largely unified response.
“Vladimir Putin totally underestimated the strength and resolve of the Ukrainian people,” Trudeau said. “But he also underestimated the strength and resolve of democracies to stand up in support of Ukraine, (and) in support of those values, and principles that underlie everything we do.”
Harris' whirlwind visit to Poland and Romania was billed by the White House as a chance for the vice president to consult with two of the leaders from eastern flank NATO nations about the growing humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Already, more than 2 million refugees have fled Ukraine — with more than half coming to Poland — and even more expected to arrive in the days ahead.
Duda warned of a “refugee disaster” if Poland doesn't receive more assistance to help house and feed Ukrainians fleeing the conflict. He said he asked Harris for the U.S. to “speed up” the process for those Ukrainian refugees who would want to go to the U.S. and might have family there.
“The United States is absolutely prepared to do what we can and what we must to support Poland, in terms of the burden that they have taken on," Harris said.
Harris will travel on Friday to Bucharest, where she will meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
