Biden said in a speech in Warsaw: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The White House reacted immediately and made it clear that it was not a call for a coup.
US President Joe Biden denied calling for the ouster of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech about the war in Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday. A reporter asked Biden on Sunday night (local time), “Mr. President, do you want Putin removed (from office)? Mr. President, did you call for regime change?” Biden replied, “No.”
In his speech in Warsaw, Biden called Putin a “dictator” and concluded with the words: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The White House immediately emphasized that this was not a call to overthrow Putin. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also stressed on Sunday that the United States is not seeking a change of power in Russia. Biden’s statement sparked outrage in Russia.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made it clear that NATO is not seeking a power shift in Russia. “That’s not the goal of NATO, or the American president, for that matter,” he said Sunday on the ARD program “Anne Will.”
Scholz noted that he had discussed this issue with Biden during his inaugural visit to the White House — even before the war in Ukraine. “We both fully agree that regime change is not an objective or policy objective that we pursue together.” It is “a matter of the peoples and nations themselves” to fight for their freedom.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already made it clear that the US was not seeking a change of power in Russia. The point is that Putin “cannot be allowed to make war against Ukraine or any other country,” he said.
(APA/DPA)