US President Joe Biden “seemed to call for the ousting of Vladimir Putin” during a speech in Poland on Saturday March 26, claiming that the invasion of Ukraine by his Russian counterpart had triggered a “new battle for freedom” between democracies and autocracies, relates the Wall Street Journal.
In front of nearly a thousand people at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, including Polish President Andrzej Duda and members of Parliament, Joe Biden said:
“For the love of God, this man can’t stay in power.”
The White House immediately tried to clarify this remark, that the New York Times qualifies as“sharp”, made at the end of a three-day trip to Europe. The leader was not calling for regime change, “which would have been a major shift in American policy”in the words of Los Angeles Times. He meant that Vladimir Putin “cannot be allowed to exercise power over its neighbours”explained the services of the presidency. “He wasn’t talking about Putin’s power in Russia, or about regime change.”
Poutine called a “butcher”
In Warsaw, Joe Biden, who has made rallying European partners and other democratic nations against what he sees as a threatening rise in authoritarianism a central focus of his presidency, reiterated this message, notes the Wall Street Journal. “In the eternal struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are on the front line, fighting to save their nation and their courageous resistance is part of a larger fight for the essential democratic principles that unite all free peoples”he said in his speech at the royal castle.
Earlier, Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a “boucher”, in response to a question after meeting Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, including several from the town of Mariupol, leveled by days of shelling by Russian forces.
Slippage or veiled threat?
“Slippage or veiled threat?”ask the New York Times about Joe Biden’s comments on Vladimir Putin, without really answering. “They were part of the last few words of a carefully crafted speech. But they were moving away from the delicate balance that President Biden had tried to strike during three days of wartime diplomacy in Europe.
Faced with the dual challenge of maintaining the unity of US allies against Vladimir Putin, while avoiding an escalation with Russia, “Joe Biden had managed, however, for most of his foray abroad, to stay true to the message, according to seasoned foreign policy observers”highlights the daily.
“However, the president’s trip ended with few concrete answers about how or when the war will end.” And if a senior Russian commander seemed to indicate on Friday that Moscow was reducing its war aims, announcing “to concentrate the bulk of the efforts on the main objective: liberation” from Donbass, the occupant of the Oval Office returned home with “a grim uncertainty about the brutal and grueling violence that is yet to come”.