Mr. Biden’s remarks in Poland on Saturday included a call to Putin to be a “butcher,” and appeared to be a sharp escalation of the US response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Sunday, top American diplomats downplayed his declaration, and Biden, asked by a reporter as he left a church service in Washington if he was calling for regime change in Russia, responded with a one-word response: “No.”
The US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, attempted to contextualise Biden’s remarks earlier, saying they came after a day of meeting with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw.
Russia’s month-long invasion has forced a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people to flee their homes.
“”At the time, I believe that was a principled human reaction to the stories he had heard that day,” Smith told CNN’s “State of the Union,” before adding, “The US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia.” That’s it.”
The remarks prompted EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell to distance himself from US President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Mr. Borrell stated, “I have not heard directly what he said, but I have seen the White House position.” [The EU] is not seeking a regime change; that is something for Russian citizens to decide [if they want a regime change], if they so choose.”
“What we are after in the case of Russia is to prevent the aggression [from continuing], and that is our purpose in this case – to put an end to Putin’s war against Ukraine,” he added.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also kept his distance from US President Donald Trump.
“I wouldn’t use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin,” he told France 3 TV.
In the coming days, the French president said he hopes to hold more talks with Putin about the situation in Ukraine, as well as launch an initiative to help people flee the besieged city of Mariupol.
“We want to stop the war that Russia has started in Ukraine without escalation – that’s the goal,” he added, noting that the goal is to achieve a ceasefire and troop withdrawal through diplomatic means.
“If this is what we want to do, we should not escalate things – neither verbally nor physically.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that “we do not have a regime change strategy,” while the Kremlin stated that “it is not up to the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia.”
