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'No,' clarifies Biden when asked if he called for Russia regime change over Kyiv
Ukraine war: US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Jerusalem on Sunday but he too made it a point to put things in perspective.
US president Joe Biden's latest Russia remark - albeit made in a state of exasperation - has led to a series of clarifications since Saturday. On his visit to Poland, the US president had said about Russia's Vladimir Putin: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power." He was meeting the refugees from the war-hit Ukraine. Shortly after, the White House clarified that he did not mean by a regime change.
Biden replied with a plain "no" on Sunday when he was questioned if he meant that Moscow should have a new government. His response came when he left a church service in Washington and was urged by a reporter for a reply amid the controversy, news agency Reuters reported.
During his Poland visit, the first to a NATO nation since the start of the Ukraine war in February, Biden - when nudged about his opinion of Putin - had said: “He is a butcher”.
A day later, France's Emmanuel Macron said the West “needs to be factual” to make sure the “situation does not get out of control”. “If we want to do that, we can't escalate either in words or actions,” Macron was quoted as saying in a report, when asked about Biden's comments.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Jerusalem on Sunday but he too made it a point to put things in perspective. "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," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"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."
It has been 33 days since the Kremlin launched an offensive in Ukraine and targeted major cities. Since then, it has been accused of multiple war crimes with nearly 3.7 million people in the country forced out of their homes. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging US-led NATO alliance for closing skies to stop the bombing.
While Biden has committed aid, both military support and humanitarian relief, the US president has voiced his reservation against a "no-fly" zone.
The US has been leading the world too in terms of punitive measures against the Kremlin.
(With inputs from Reuters)
