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US President Joe Biden: "I'm not taking anything back"
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Patrick Semansky / dpa
US President Joe Biden has defended his controversial statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" because of the war in Ukraine.
Biden said in the White House on Monday that he would “not take back” his sentence.
In his speech at the weekend in the Polish capital Warsaw, he expressed "moral outrage" and did not announce a new US policy.
No one believes he was talking about bringing down Putin.
"I do not apologize for my personal feelings," said the US President.
When asked by journalists, Biden also denied that his statement could escalate the Ukraine war or complicate diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Biden sharply attacked Putin on Saturday evening in a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw because of the war of aggression against Ukraine and said – deviating from his speech: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
In his speech at the end of a two-day visit to Poland, Biden repeatedly referred to the Russian president simply as a “dictator”.
With the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Putin made a strategic mistake, said Biden.
"A dictator who wants to rebuild an empire can never extinguish people's love for freedom," Biden said.
The statements immediately caused international irritation.
Immediately after the speech, the White House qualified Biden's statement.
The US President did not directly call for Putin's overthrow, said a senior White House official.
“The President's message was that Putin must not be allowed to have power over his neighbors or the region.
He didn't talk about Putin's power in Russia or a government overthrow,” he said.
The Kremlin also responded immediately to Biden's speech.
A spokesman for Putin said it was not up to the US president to decide who would rule Russia.
On Monday, the Kremlin followed suit and called Biden's sentence "alarming".
Russia had recently warned against breaking off diplomatic relations due to the massive tensions with the United States.
ok/AFP/dpa