The rhetorical clash between the United States and Russia escalated on Wednesday when President Biden said that he believed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a “war criminal,” and a top Russian official said the comment was “unacceptable and unforgivable.”

Mr. Biden was responding to a reporter’s question as he was leaving an event at the White House. Later, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, told reporters that Mr. Biden was “speaking from his heart and speaking from what he’s seen on television.”

On Wednesday, an International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, held a virtual meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky while in Ukraine. Late last month, Mr. Khan said he was seeking authorization to open an investigation into the war, and that his office had already found “a reasonable basis” to believe war crimes had been committed.
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