While announcing the United States (US) Budget for the fiscal year 2023 at a press conference, President Joe Biden refused to “walk back” his recent calls for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be removed from power, despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s efforts to downplay them.
Biden was referring to comments he made in Warsaw on Saturday, wherein he said that Putin “cannot remain in power.” Blinken, the next day, scrambled to underplay the seriousness of Biden’s remarks by saying that the President was not calling for regime change in Russia, stressing that this is a decision that should be left up to the Russian people. He clarified that Biden meant Putin “cannot be empowered” to continue the war in Ukraine, which has turned millions into refugees.
However, on Monday, in his first public appearance since the incident, the American leader insisted that he was merely “expressing the moral outrage” he felt towards Putin’s actions in Ukraine, after having met Ukrainian refugees earlier that day. Biden stressed that he will not apologise for his comments, making it clear that his comments were addressed to the Russian people and the whole world. “I’m not walking anything back,” he boldly declared, before adding, “I wasn’t then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change.”
He also dismissed suggestions that his speech could be used as propaganda by the Russian state to indicate US aggression, noting, “Nobody believes we’re going to take town — I was going to — I was talking about taking down Putin.”
"I'm not going to tell you. Why would I tell you?" -- Biden to Peter Doocy pic.twitter.com/Uj76tpyDbE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 28, 2022
In addition, Biden asserted that his remarks do not hinder or escalate the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, pointing out that the only escalation taking place in the conflict is Putin’s “carnage.” He characterised the Russian President as someone “who goes to the beat of his own drummer,” adding that Putin does not listen to anyone, “including, unfortunately, apparently his own advisors.”
When asked about what has changed since his last face-to-face meeting with Putin in Geneva last year, wherein the two leaders met to resolve a military escalation at the Ukrainian border, Biden noted that Putin’s behaviour has changed and his demands have “escalated significantly” since that meeting. He said Putin had two primary demands last year: prohibiting Ukraine from becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and not allowing any long-range missiles on Ukrainian territory. At that time, Biden had accepted Putin’s second demand but emphasised that only Ukraine can decide its future with NATO.
NOW - Biden: "Nobody believes we're gonna takedown... I was talking about taking down Putin." pic.twitter.com/BSOObDUybx
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 28, 2022
In this context, Biden also affirmed NATO’s unity against Russian aggression, while also indicating that he is willing to meet Putin. However, Biden highlighted that he only will meet Putin provided that there is an indication of an end to the war and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Towards the end of his press conference, Biden stressed that he did not mean to trigger escalation with Russia, underlining, “The only war that’s worse than one intended is one that’s unintended.” He reiterated that his comments in Warsaw were an expression of his outrage, saying that “people [Putin] like this shouldn’t be ruling countries,” adding, “But it doesn’t mean I can’t express my outrage about it.”