On Monday, US President Joe Biden stood firm in his assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot continue in power” in a big address delivered over the weekend, claiming that he was expressing personal “outrage.”
“I’m not going to return anything… I’d like to be clear: I wasn’t articulating a policy change back then, and I’m not doing so today. He told reporters at the White House, “I was expressing moral anger that I feel, and I make no apologies for my personal sentiments.”
Republicans and other independent observers interpreted Biden’s statement, made in Warsaw at the end of three days of marathon diplomacy on Saturday, as a blunder, worrying about a president going off-script while dealing with such a volatile subject.
Joe Biden stated that he was not concerned that it might inflame tensions with Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and that he was “talking to the Russian people, telling them what we believed.” “I don’t give a damn what he thinks,” Biden said.
“This is a person that marches to the rhythm of his own drum, and the idea that he’ll do anything crazy just because I called him out on what he was and what he’s doing is just not realistic to me.” According to the Ukrainian authorities, up to 10,000 people may have perished since Putin’s assault began more than a month ago.
Despite an apparent retreat in Moscow’s war ambitions to focus on eastern Ukraine, Russian strikes near Kyiv have cut electricity to more than 80,000 homes.
However, Biden left the door open for more diplomacy with Putin, stating that the US’ willingness to meet with him would be contingent on “what he wants to speak about.” “The issue is whether there is something on which we can agree that would justify his being able to end this conflict and reconstruct Ukraine,” Biden told reporters.
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