Biden On Putin: “This Man Cannot Remain In Power”

The New York Times reports:

President Biden delivered a forceful denunciation of Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power” and casting the military clash as the “test of all time” in a decades-long battle to defend democracy.

In a speech from a castle that served for centuries as a home for Polish monarchs, Mr. Biden drew a stark line between the forces of liberty and oppression in the world. He described the face-off with Mr. Putin as a moment he has long warned about: a clash of competing global ideologies.

The Washington Post reports:

Shortly after the speech, a White House official sought to clarify the comments, which appeared to be off the cuff.

“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,” the official said.

Since Russia’s war with Ukraine began, the Biden administration has taken pains to avoid even implying that regime change is a goal of the Western response to Russia’s aggression.

“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” President Biden says, referring to Putin, at the conclusion of his major speech in Poland. pic.twitter.com/UqxbK1eVn7

— Dori Toribio (@DoriToribio) March 26, 2022