President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a “pure thug” and “murderous dictator”, his latest pointed attack against the Russian President as the war in Ukraine rages on.

Speaking at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on St. Patrick’s Day at Capitol Hill, Biden said Putin is “a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine”.

And earlier, in a meeting with Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach of Ireland, the President also zeroed in on the Russian leader, saying, “Putin’s brutality and what he’s doing and his troops are doing in Ukraine is just inhumane”.

The comments came a day after Biden called Putin a war criminal - a significant escalation in his rhetoric condemning the Russian leader’s actions against Ukraine.