Russian President Vladimir Putin may be unfit to rule, but the U.S. isn’t seeking a regime change in the Kremlin, the White House said Sunday, scrambling to downplay President Biden’s comment that the Russian strongman “cannot remain in power.”
Biden made the dramatic remarks about Putin and Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine during an emotional speech in Warsaw on Saturday.
“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,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a trip to Jerusalem.
“We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia — or anywhere else, for that matter,” he said. “As in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russians.”
Biden made the assertion – “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power” – on the last day of his four-day trip to Europe. Shortly afterward, the White House issued the first of its statements walking back the remarks.
“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,” an unnamed White House official said.
Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., said she welcomed Biden’s speech.
“We heard President Biden loud and clear, that the U.S. … is and will be with Ukraine in this fight,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
She also called for more military aid.
“We need all the support with all the weapons, including the anti-air, including the airplanes, everything, to stop this brutal destruction,” Markarova said.
Asked whether Ukraine wanted the U.S. to send troops to join the defense of Ukraine, she said no.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced frustration with Western nations’ refusal to send his country fighter jets as the invasion extended into its fifth week.
Speaking in a video address, he praised the “determination, heroism and firmness” of fighters in Mariupol, which has been cut off from the outside world by brutal Russian bombardments.
“If only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had 1% of their courage,” Zelenskyy said.
He also lamented Western nations’ “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets.”
Ukraine has repeatedly asked for fighter jets from the U.S. and Europe, which have already provided hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons. But the U.S. has rejected a Polish proposal to send planes to Ukraine through an American base in Germany, with NATO leaders saying they don’t want to be drawn into direct combat.
In a Sunday interview with Russian media, Zelenskyy said he would consider neutral status for Ukraine, along with other measures, to bring about an end to the war.
“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state — we are ready to go for it,” he said.
Zelenskyy also reiterated calls for Putin to meet with him.
“We must come to an agreement with the president of the Russian Federation, and in order to reach an agreement, he needs to get out of there on his own feet … and come to meet me.,” he said.
The bloodshed on the ground has continued as Ukrainian troops went on the offensive in areas where Russian forces were weak, according to The New York Times.
A big formation of Russian soldiers was regrouping around Chernobyl’s defunct nuclear power plant, the Times also reported.
Meanwhile, Russia kept up its relentless shelling of cities. At least 1,119 civilians have been killed and 1,790 others wounded since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations, though it noted the figures are almost certainly an undercount.
On a bright note, some cafes in Kyiv reopened as Ukrainian troops reportedly launched a counteroffensive outside the capital.
“We have reopened and are going to keep working as long as we can,” a barista named Mykola told the BBC. “We are doing this to make people smile.”
A sign at another cafe read: “”Death to the Russian invaders. Coffee for defenders is free.”
With News Wire Services
