Washington: (AFP)
US President Joe Biden’s statement that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “cannot stay in power” echoed around the world, prompting his administration to quickly clarify it, avoiding confusing Washington’s efforts to mobilize a united front on the conflict in Ukraine.
Biden’s statement, which came in a speech in Warsaw at the conclusion of a three-day European diplomatic tour, was described by a Republican senator as a “terrible slip of the tongue.” A prominent analyst considered that it might prolong the war.
French President Emmanuel Macron also warned that such phrases could “escalate” the conflict that Washington and its NATO allies seek to contain, and undermine Western efforts to help the stricken Ukrainians.
close rows
The statement came at the conclusion of a firm speech, Saturday, in which Biden ended a tour of Europe aimed at closing ranks in the face of the Russian military operation.
His impromptu words, “For God’s sake, this man can’t stay in power,” surprised even his advisers for their apparent deviation from US policy in dealing with the conflict thus far. The White House did not delay in intervening, and made clear minutes after the speech that Biden had not called for “regime change” in Russia.
But Biden’s comments hours earlier, describing him to Putin as a “butcher”, sparked outrage in Moscow, caused astonishment in the allied countries, and made his advisors on high alert to quell criticism. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken joined officials who vehemently denied that Biden had called for Putin’s ouster. What Biden meant, Blinken said, was that “Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.” “The choice of who is the president of Russia is up to the Russians,” he added.
human response
Washington assigned its ambassador to NATO, Julian Smith, to confirm the same message, declaring on television networks that “the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. a dot on the line”. She told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that Biden’s comments were “a principled human response to the stories he heard” during a visit to Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
But Macron, who has spoken several times with Putin since the war began, warned the West not to “escalate words and actions” or risk hampering vital humanitarian efforts, including hopes of evacuating those stranded in the stricken city of Mariupol.
Republican Senator Jim Risch stressed that Biden’s statements contradict his administration’s efforts to stop the escalation of the conflict. “Nothing can lead to an escalation more than a call for regime change,” Rich told CNN.
horrific slip
Biden has been known for decades for his many slips of the tongue, and newspapers have previously raced to make lists of “the 10 most important slips of the tongue ever.” Rich considered that the president had once again shot himself in the foot. While stressing that Biden gave a “good speech”, Risch noted that he had committed a “horrible slip of the tongue at the end.” And he continued, “I hope they commit him to the text of the written letter.”
But not everyone saw the statement as an unspoken threat, or even as a slip of the tongue. And the former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, considered on Twitter that Biden’s words should be read differently.
“Biden expressed what billions of people around the world believe, and millions inside Russia as well, and he didn’t say the United States should remove him from power, there is a difference,” he said, but experts in the United States and abroad have harshly criticized Biden. US diplomat Richard Haass, who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, estimated that the White House guest “made the difficult situation more difficult and the dangerous situation more dangerous.”
“Putin will see this as confirmation of what he has believed all along,” Haas added on Twitter. Equally austere, François Heisburg, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said it was best for US leaders not to “let their mouths loose.”