Dhe outrage in Russia over US President Joe Biden’s statements about Vladimir Putin’s staying in power is great. Biden makes statements and mistakes with “terrifying regularity” that are worse than crimes, said prominent Russian foreign politician Konstantin Kosachev. He was responding to Biden’s words that Putin could not remain in office because of the war in Ukraine. There were times when a US president’s word carried weight, but that’s over now, said the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Federation Council.
The American Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke from Jerusalem on Sunday. America is not looking for a change of power in Russia, Blinken said during a visit to Israel. “As you know, and as you hear us say repeatedly, we have no strategy for regime change in Russia or anywhere else,” Blinken told reporters in Jerusalem.
The Kremlin emphasized on Saturday evening that the Americans did not decide on leadership in Russia. “Biden does not decide that, the president of Russia is elected by the Russian people,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov after Biden’s speech in Poland. Biden had said in front of a historic backdrop in the inner courtyard of Warsaw’s Royal Castle: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
Previously, Biden had also referred to Putin as a “butcher,” “war criminal,” and “murderous dictator.” Russia has “strangled” democracy and is trying to do the same elsewhere, Biden said. “A dictator who seeks to rebuild an empire will never quench a people’s love of freedom.”
“Biden is weak, sick and unhappy”
The Russian head of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin then accused the US President of “undiplomatic statements” and “hysteria”. “Biden is weak, sick and unhappy,” Volodin commented on Telegram. “US citizens should be ashamed of their President. Maybe he’s sick. It would be right if Biden were to be medically examined.” Putin, on the other hand, deserves respect for his “restraint”. Russia had recently warned against breaking off diplomatic relations because of the massive tensions with the United States.
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The London Independent also commented critically on Biden’s comments: “Unfortunately, in the last sentence of his speech in Poland, the US President went beyond mere facts when he declared: ‘For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power.’ That is an honorable sentiment, but it was a mistake for Biden to express it publicly.”
The paper went on to say: “Putin wants to make it appear that this war is between Russia and the US-led NATO alliance. Otherwise one would have to recognize that this is a war of aggression that the Russian military state is waging against its Slavic neighbors and cousins. So it matters that President Biden, whose trip to Europe was otherwise a success, accepted Putin’s portrayal of his war as a proxy conflict with the United States. Until now, the US President had avoided falling into this trap.”
CNN: The sentence was not in the speech manuscript
Biden’s appearance in the Polish capital marked the end of his trip to Europe, which had been dominated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Thousands of people gathered in and around the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Saturday afternoon to hear Biden’s speech. It was also broadcast in front of the castle. Applause erupted again and again. Many people held Ukrainian flags in their hands, some also waved the US flag. Only at the very end of his speech did Biden say the decisive sentence about Putin’s power.