MSNBC reporter and anchor Ali Velshi suggested over the weekend NATO countries should launch military action against Russian following the country’s latest attack on civilians in Ukraine.
Velshi, who has been reporting from the war-torn European nation over the last several days, suggested in a string of tweets on Saturday evening that a pivotal point in the West’s response to the Russian invasion has arrived.
“The turning point for the west and NATO will come when the sun rises over Kyiv on Sunday, & the war crimes against civilian non-combatants becomes visible to all,” Velshi said. “There is no more time for prevarication. If ‘never again’ means anything, then this is the time to act.”
One Twitter user replied to Velshi, asking him how, specifically, he thinks the West and NATO should act in response.
“Direct military involvement,” Velshi responded.
The international community reacted with horror on Sunday morning as images surfaced of Ukrainian civilians apparently executed, some with hands tied behind their back, by Russian forces as troops left the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday accused Russia of genocide and said the attack on his people was “about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities.”
The Kremlin has denied killing civilians and dismissed the images coming out of Bucha as “fake.”
On Monday morning, President Biden called for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin following the events in Bucha.
“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it,” Biden told reporters. “I think it is a war crime … I’m seeking more sanctions.”