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United States President Joe Biden has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of "trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian", according to Reuters.

In a significant escalation of his rhetoric, Biden also described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as genocide.

The Guardian reported that Biden had previously labelled Putin a "war criminal", while multiple investigations have begun looking into atrocities committed by Russian forces, including the massacre of civilians in Bucha.

Biden was speaking at an event in Iowa.

"Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” he was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

When asked for clarification on whether he was intentionally using the word to describe Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Biden said: "Yes, I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian".

Is Russia's war genocide?

According to Reuters, Biden later added that he would leave it to lawyers to decide if the invasions technically qualified as genocide.

"But it sure seems that way to me," he said.

The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as an act "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

Last week, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan stopped short of describing Russia’s assault as genocide.

Reuters reported that Sullivan labelled the invading force's actions as "atrocities" and "war crimes".

"We have not seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Biden's declaration, writing on Twitter that the words were "true words from a true leader".

True words of a true leader @POTUS. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 12, 2022

"Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil," he wrote.

"We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities."

Previously walked back sharp escalations in rhetoric

Biden has previously had to walk back off-the-cuff comments made regarding the war in Ukraine.

In March, the president appeared to call for regime change in Moscow, when he told delivered a fiery speech where he said that Putin "cannot remain in power".

The speech prompted top American diplomats to play down Biden's comments.

One day after his speech, Biden when asked by reporters if he was asking for regime change gave a one-word reply: "No".

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Top images by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images and by Vasyl Molchan/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images.