“The next stage of this conflict may well be extended,” said Biden’s adviser Jake Sullivan. “We must not have illusions that Russia will adjust its tactics, which they have included and will likely continue to carry out unpredictable and brazen attacks on civilian targets.” Mr Sullivan described reports of mass killings in the visiting city of Bukha as tragic and shocking. He said the United States was weighing possible options for a war crimes trial, which Biden called for earlier Monday. He declined to say whether such a trial should take place at the International Criminal Court or elsewhere. Asked by reporters whether the United States had seen evidence of genocide in Ukraine, Sullivan said: “We have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes, we have not yet seen the level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people increase. at the level of genocide “. He said the United States would continue to monitor the situation. Mr Sullivan declined to give details of any additional sanctions, but said energy was one of the topics discussed with European allies. Mr Sullivan said the United States believed Russia was reviewing its war plan to focus its attacks on eastern and southern Ukraine. He also said that Russian forces were re-emerging from northern Ukraine in the Donbas region. He predicted that Russia would likely deploy dozens of additional regular battalions consisting of tens of thousands of troops in eastern Ukraine. Russia could also seek to expand its presence in Ukraine beyond the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, Sullivan said. Moscow is likely to try to retain Kherson and continue its attacks on Kharkov, as well as continue to launch air and missile strikes across the country, including the country’s capital, Kyiv, he said.
