White House draws back on Biden claims Putin 'cannot remain in power'

The White House has been forced to clarify President Joe Biden's apparent call for regime change in Russia during a speech in Warsaw on Saturday.

After appealing directly to the people of Russia, Mr Biden closed with reference to Vladimir Putin, saying: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."

A White House official argued that his point was that the Russian leader "cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region".

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"He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change," the official said before reports in the US suggested the remarks in question had not been scripted.

Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the Commons Defence Committee, said Mr Biden's comment was "unwise" and that Putin will now "spin this, dig in and fight harder".

The Conservative MP wrote on Twitter: "It's for the Russian people to draw this (obvious) conclusion. Putin /Xi (& many Russians) will now read 'regime change' as POTUS' wider objective – beyond supporting Ukraine."

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Before his closing remarks, Mr Biden had already described his Russian counterpart as a "butcher" – with multiple rockets striking the city of Lviv near the Polish border in the west of Ukraine.

The US leader made comparisons between the invasion of Ukraine and the horrors of the Second World War but later wrote on Twitter that "brutal tactics" employed by Russia had strengthened Ukrainian resolve and brought the West closer together.