US President Joe Biden gave a scathing denunciation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during his speech in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, 26 March.
Biden said that Putin was a "butcher" who "cannot remain in power" as he addressed the Polish audience in front of the Presidential Palace.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken later clarified that Biden was not calling for the overthrow of the Russian president.
"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," Blinken told reporters on Sunday during a visit to Jerusalem.
"As you know, and as you have heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia - or anywhere else, for that matter."
Nevertheless, the Kremlin responded to Biden's comment, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that whether Putin stays in power or not "is not to be decided by Mr Biden".
"It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation," he added.
Highlights of the Speech
Biden, in his speech, present the war in Ukraine in as a "battle between democracy and autocracy", a battle "between liberty and repression", and finally, a battle "between a rules-based order and one governed by brute force".
Just a few moments before the American president started his speech, Russian cruise missiles hit targets in Lviv near the western border of Ukraine, around 400km from the Biden's live location.
He also reiterated US commitment to Ukraine and NATO, including a pledge to defend "every inch of Nato territory with the full force of our collective power", adding that the US and NATO allies must "maintain absolute unity".
His speech was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's famous speech in West Berlin, in which he famously said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall".
Biden Meets Ukrainian Refugees
Biden also visited refugees at PGE Narodowy stadium in Warsaw on the same day as his speech.
Additinoally, he met Rafal Trzaskowski, the city's mayor.
The president, wearing a Beau Biden Foundation hat, even picked up a little girl and took a selfie with her.
He also hugged another woman while talking to her.
Biden told reporters that the refugees he had met were from Mariupol, a port city that is being razed to the ground by Russian forces.
The US president said that he admired "the depth and the strength of the human spirit" present in the people of Mariupol.
Almost 4 million people have fled Ukraine after Russia launched an invasion on 24 February. Around half of those have sought refuge in Poland.
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