U.S. presidential candidate Jill Stein from the left-wing Green Party released a statement on Sept. 19 condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "war criminal."
Stein's statement said the campaign wanted to "clarify (its) stance on key issues, particularly regarding any misunderstandings regarding...recent comments about Vladimir Putin and (Syrian leader) Bashar al-Assad."
The Sept. 19 statement unequivocally called Putin a war criminal but cited Russia's "military intervention in Syria," not the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as an "example of his disregard for human rights."
Stein reiterated previous calls for the need for "diplomacy" and said that "the situation in Ukraine" and other international crises "have created a global environment reminiscent of the prelude to World War I." She did not call for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine but instead emphasized the "necessity of engaging with adversaries like Putin to de-escalate tensions and work toward peaceful resolutions."
Ajamu Baraka, Stein's running mate for the Green Party in 2016, hit back against the statement, saying that "playing to the rightest forces among the left and (Democratic) Party was not necessary."
The comments came days after Stein gave a widely criticized interview with U.K. broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, in which she declined to answer a direct question about whether Putin is a war criminal.
"So, what we said about Putin was that his invasion of Ukraine is criminal. It's a criminal and murderous war," Stein said in response.
When Hasan pressed her, asking, "And he's a war criminal who should be on trial?" Stein said, "well, by implication, by implication."
Later on in the interview, Hasan again asked Stein the same question point blank — "Either you're a war criminal or you're not. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?"
Stein again waffled, saying, "In so many words, yes he is."
But she added, "If you want to pull him back, if you are a world leader, you don't begin your conversation by calling someone a war criminal."
The Green Party candidate has been previously criticized for her views on Russia and its full-scale war on Ukraine, and has repeated Russian propaganda talking points, such as the false claims that NATO expansion provoked Putin and that the 2014 EuroMaidan revolution was a "coup."
Stein also attended a gala in Moscow in 2015, where she dined at a table with Putin and General Mike Flynn, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's national security advisor.
Polls on the upcoming presidential election have consistently found that Stein is ranking under 2% among likely voters.
Dinara Khalilova
