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Blinken stresses US does not seek Moscow 'regime change'
Biden's point, Blinken said in Jerusalem, was that "Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else".
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield speak during a UN Security Council meeting on February 17, 2022, in New York. Blinken urged Russia Thursday to pull back from war and declare it has no plans to invade Ukraine. If it seeks peace, Blinken told the UN Security Council, (AFP/Timothy A. Clary)
U
S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday President Vladimir Putin's position is "up to the Russians", playing down President Joe Biden's comments that suggested a desire for regime change in Moscow.
Biden's point, Blinken said in Jerusalem, was that "Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else".
Speaking in Warsaw on Saturday, Biden sparked controversy when he called the Russian leader a "butcher" and added: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."
That raised questions of whether the United States was advocating non-democratic "regime change" in Russia.
"As you've heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else for that matter," said Blinken.
"As in any case, it's up to the people of the country in question. It's up to the Russians," he said.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday warned against verbal "escalation" with Moscow, after US President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "butcher" over his invasion of Ukraine.
Macron told broadcaster France 3 that he saw his task as "achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of (Russian) troops by diplomatic means."
"If we want to do that, we can't escalate either in words or actions."
Paris has kept diplomatic channels to Moscow open throughout Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's borders and invasion of its neighbour.
The stance has been criticised by some other leaders and commentators but defended by Macron as vital to limiting damage from the war.
He nevertheless accused Putin Sunday of wanting to return to "a Europe of empires, of domination, without respect for the integrity of borders and nations' right to decide for themselves".
Biden's Saturday remarks were far more muscular, with the US chief executive using a visit to Poland to dub Putin "a butcher" who "cannot remain in power".
The White House later scrambled to deny he was seeking "regime change" in Moscow, while the Kremlin said Biden's words could harm bilateral relations.
Macron said that he would call Putin on Monday or Tuesday to discuss a proposal from France, Greece and Turkey to evacuate Ukrainians from besieged port city Mariupol.
"There is a lot of cynicism from the Russian side on this question," Macron said.
"We're looking with the Ukrainian authorities in the city of Mariupol at how to organise the evacuation of everyone who wants to flee."
He added that "we have to do it quickly, in the very next days" given the intensity of combat and bombardments in the city.
