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On March 26, US President Joe Biden criticized Putin as a “butcher” in the Polish capital. He said in a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw that Putin’s war against Ukraine has been a complete strategic failure. For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The White House later clarified that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia, but that “Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power in his neighborhood or in the region.”
The comment was later disputed, but President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday, “I’m not taking it back” and “I’m not apologizing.” “I just expressed my anger that he should not remain in power, just as bad people should not continue to do bad things,” but “it does not mean that there is a fundamental change in our policy,” he added.
He spoke of his “moral outrage at the way Putin has behaved”. “This man’s actions are atrocious,” he said, but “no one believes that I’m talking about overthrowing Putin.” “It does not mean that we want fundamental regime change.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power,” Biden said of Putin in Warsaw on Saturday. The remark stirred up trouble. The phrase did not appear in the written text of the speech, forcing the White House to immediately try to play down its significance to ensure it was not implying the overthrow of the Kremlin’s masters.
Several experts and leaders of U.S. Allies said the statement contradicts Western efforts not to justify Russia’s escalation in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Biden said he “didn’t think at all” his words would provoke such an escalation. Asked what Russian President Vladimir Putin might think, Biden said: “I don’t care what he thinks.” He’s going to do what he thinks he’s going to do, period. He was not influenced by anyone.”
However, the US President did not rule out a future summit with his Russian counterpart. It depends on what he wants to talk about.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned against “escalation” over Biden’s description of Putin as a “butcher.” First, we must be realistic and do everything we can to keep the situation from getting out of control.” “I will not use that language because I am continuing discussions with President Putin,” Macron said in an interview with France 3. However, “we want to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine without war and without escalation,” Macron said, recalling the common position hammered out repeatedly by European and U.S. Allies: support for Ukraine against Russia, but no direct military intervention in the conflict.
German Chancellor Scholz questioned the possibility of Biden alluding to regime change in Moscow when he concluded his Warsaw speech by saying Putin “should not remain in power.” Scholz assured on public channel ARD Sunday night that such a prospect “is not a goal of NATO, and it is not a goal of the President of the United States.” He added, “Democracy, freedom and the law have a future everywhere, but it is up to people and nations to fight for that freedom. In other words, there is no question of forcibly removing the Head of the Kremlin from outside, despite Putin’s responsibility for the war.”