Biden says 'not walking back' suggestion Putin should leave power
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Joe Biden said he was not worried that his comments would ratchet up tensions with Putin.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON (REUTERS, AFP) - US President Joe Biden on Monday (March 28) said his remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin "should not remain in power" reflected his own moral outrage at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not a US policy shift.
Mr Biden faced pressure to speak about the comment after it generated a flood of questions as to whether the United States had changed to a policy seeking regime change in Moscow.
“I wasn’t then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing moral outrage that I felt, and I make no apologies,” he told reporters at the White House.
He said his outburst, made at the end of a major address about Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday, had been prompted by an emotional visit he had with families displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of his speech in the Polish capital, Mr Biden added an unscripted line, saying that Mr Putin “cannot remain in power”. Administration officials rushed to clarify afterwards that the White House was not advocating for regime change in Russia.
Mr Biden on Monday said that he was “not walking anything back” by clarifying the remark.
“I wasn’t then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing moral outrage that I felt, and I make no apologies,” he told reporters at the White House.
He said his outburst, made at the end of a major address about Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday, had been prompted by an emotional visit he had with families displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of his speech in the Polish capital, Mr Biden added an unscripted line, saying that Mr Putin “cannot remain in power”. Administration officials rushed to clarify afterwards that the White House was not advocating for regime change in Russia.
Mr Biden on Monday said that he was “not walking anything back” by clarifying the remark.
Asked whether the remark would spur a negative response from Mr Putin, Mr Biden said: “I don’t care what he thinks... He’s going to do what he’s going to do.
"This is guy who goes to the beat of his own drummer and the idea that he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he's doing, I think is just not rational."
But Mr Biden once again suggested that Mr Putin should not be leading Russia. If Mr Putin “continues on the course that he’s on, he’s going to become a pariah worldwide and who knows what he becomes at home in terms of support", Mr Biden said.
However, Mr Biden did not rule out meeting with Mr Putin, saying it depends on what he wants to talk about.
Mr Biden earlier this month described Mr Putin as a “war criminal” for his role in a conflict in which many Ukrainian civilians have been killed.
However, Mr Biden did not rule out meeting with Mr Putin, saying it depends on what he wants to talk about.
Mr Biden earlier this month described Mr Putin as a “war criminal” for his role in a conflict in which many Ukrainian civilians have been killed.
“The last part of the speech was talking to Russian people,” Mr Biden said. “I was communicating this to not only the Russian people, but the whole world. This is just stating a simple fact that this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”
Ukraine's government says that as many as 10,000 people may have died since the start of Mr Putin's invasion more than a month ago.
Russian attacks near Kyiv have cut power to more than 80,000 homes, despite an apparent retreat in Moscow's war aims to focus on eastern Ukraine.
