The divide between Biden and Putin intensifies as the war in Ukraine continues. President Joe Biden said “for God’s sake, this man [Putin] cannot remain in power,” in his address at Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Later, the White House released a statement saying that this was not a call for a regime change.
“The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” a White House official said.
Biden’s line that Putin “cannot remain in power” was not in his prepared remarks, a White House official said.
“For us, it’s not about regime change. The Russian people have to decide who they want to lead them,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this month.
“This is not to be decided by Mr. Biden,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his plea for international partners to step up their military assistance, saying his country only asks for 1% of NATO’s tanks and planes. In a Saturday video message, Zelensky said the need to strengthen common security in Europe was raised during his two conversations with Polish President Andrezj Duda Saturday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Saturday that the United States intends to provide “an additional $100 million in civilian security assistance” to Ukraine.
The money is intended “to enhance the capacity of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide essential border security, sustain civil law enforcement functions, and safeguard critical governmental infrastructure in the face of President Putin’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack,” according to the statement.