Biden's Remarks Not About 'Regime Change', Clarifies WH After US Prez Says 'Putin Cannot Remain In Power'

As Russia continues its attacks in Ukraine, the US President said that Moscow has "strangled democracy" and President Vladimir Putin is lying in a bid to justify the conflict.

File Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The White House has clarified that US President Joe Biden was not calling for "regime change" when he declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power", 

Speaking at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, Biden towards the conclusion of his speech said, "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power", news agency ANI reported.

A White House official while clarifying the remarks made by the US President said, "The President's point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region. He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change."

Biden's line that Putin "cannot remain in power" was not in his prepared remarks, the official added, as reported by ANI.

Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov put forth Moscow's response to the statement. 

"This is not to be decided by Mr Biden. It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation," he said, as reported by CNN.

As Russia continues its attacks in Ukraine, the US President in his address that Moscow has "strangled democracy" and President Vladimir Putin is lying in a bid to justify the conflict.

Biden criticised Putin for condemning the NATO alliance and slammed Russia's actions saying, "It's nothing less than a direct challenge to the rules-based international order established since the end of World War II, and it threatens to return to decades of war that ravaged Europe before the international rule-based order was put in place. We cannot go back to that. We cannot."

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last month after recognising the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as "independent republics." 

(With Agency Inputs)