Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed US President Joe Biden as saying that Vladimir Putin “cannot stay in power.”
“It is not Biden who makes the decision. The president of Russia is elected by the Russians,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Reuters.
A White House spokesman said Biden, who spoke during a speech in Warsaw, did not call for regime change in Russia. He said “Putin should not be allowed to gain power over his neighbors or the region,” the source added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot stay in power, US President Joe Biden said today, speaking at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
“We will have a different future, a brighter future based on democracy and principles, hope and light, decency and dignity, freedom and opportunity. For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power,” Biden said.
In his speech, the American leader addressed the Russian people directly. “Let me say, if you can hear me, that you, the Russian people, are not our enemy,” Biden said.
According to him, Russia’s war in Ukraine is a strategic failure. He added that US troops in Eastern Europe were there to protect NATO, not to come into conflict with the Russian military. However, Biden issued a stern warning to Russia not to step “an inch into NATO territory.”