Biden’s comment that Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ could affect the war [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Joe Biden on Saturday said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
• Biden’s statement was reportedly an adlib and was not on his script.
• The White House quickly walked back his remarks, saying they were not about regime change

President Joe Biden said that Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” Biden made the remark in Poland on Saturday.

Biden also called Putin a “butcher” in an earlier meeting with refugees on Saturday. Experts say Biden’s comments were a sharp escalation of the U.S. approach to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. is avoiding direct military involvement, but Biden’s adlib at the end of his Saturday speech raised the specter of an escalation by Washington.

“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden told a crowd in Warsaw following a condemnation of Putin’s month-long war in Ukraine.

A White House official walked back Biden’s remark, saying it did not represent a shift in Washington’s policy.

“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region,” the unidentified official said. “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s reaction to Biden’s remarks: “That’s not for Biden to decide.” He told Reuters, “The president of Russia is elected by Russians.”

Later in an appearance at Russia’s RBC, Peskov said that the U.S. president was obviously “the victim of many misconceptions”.

“This speech – and the passages which concern Russia – is astounding, to use polite words,” Peskov said. “He doesn’t understand that the world is not limited to the United States and most of Europe.”

On Sunday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: “I think the president, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.”

“As you know, and as you have heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia – or anywhere else, for that matter,” Blinken said while on a visit to Jerusalem.

French President Emmanuel Macron told France 3 TV he “wouldn’t use this type of wording” because he still continues to hold discussions with Putin.

Macron added that the “objective” is “to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without escalation.” He noted that the objective is to obtain a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops through diplomatic means.

“If this is what we want to do, we should not escalate things — neither with words or actions,” Macron added, referring to Biden’s remarks.

Reacting to Biden’s remarks, Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, said “This is how a weak and sick person behaves – psychiatrists will be able to explain [Biden’s] behavior better. American citizens should be ashamed of their president.”

Source: Reuters