Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered remarks in Israel today that directly contradicted Joe Biden’s declaration that his Russian counterpart could not remain in power following the invasion of Ukraine.
Yesterday Biden told a crowd in Poland that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” after the invasion. This was taken as a call for regime change by virtually ever media outlet that reported it, even as the White House quickly began distancing itself from the remarks made by its executive.
Today the State Department clarified that Biden’s unscripted foreign policy directive is not the official plan of the United States.
“I think the president, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” Blinken said, as reported by The Daily Mail.
Biden specifically said that Putin “cannot remain in power” and did not add context.
Still, Blinken added, “As you know, and as you have heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia — or anywhere else, for that matter.”
This is the third time in four days that the Biden administration has fact checked or corrected Joe Biden.
The first time happened last week when Biden told the public that the United States and NATO would respond “in kind” if Putin used a chemical weapon in Ukraine. Many took this to mean that Biden would unleash chemical weapons on Russians, however, the White House denied this the next day.
Then, Biden told troops with the 82nd Airborne in Poland that they would soon see the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and citizens first hand, seemingly indicating that American soldiers would soon head to the war torn country.
The White House almost immediately corrected Biden, and assured the public that there was no plan to send troops to Ukraine.
Russia says it launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine last month after a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region. The Kremlin claims the “special military operation” was launched to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence, while Ukraine and much of the international community maintain the invasion was unprovoked.
