In a forceful speech at the end of his European trip, President Biden ended his remarks by saying Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
The Washington Post writes:
The president’s remark initially seemed to suggest support for regime change — something the Biden administration has taken pains to avoid — though the White House later said Biden only meant Putin should not be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.
The Washington Post
The New York Times adds context:
In a speech from a castle that served for centuries as a home for Polish monarchs, Mr. Biden described the face-off with Mr. Putin as a moment he has long warned about: a clash of competing global ideologies, of liberty versus oppression.
The New York Times
Also in the speech, Biden called Putin a “dictator” warning him not to advance “one inch on NATO territory.”
The President met earlier with Ukrainian refugees who escaped to Poland. The Times writes:
After holding a small Ukrainian girl in his arms for a selfie, the president responded to a question from a reporter by calling the Russian leader “a butcher” for the crushing shelling of Mariupol, the eastern city in Ukraine which has been largely demolished by Russian forces.
