Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the United States has no plans to change Russia’s regime, following President Joe Biden’s comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot maintain power in the Ukrainian conflict.
“I think President White House emphasized last night that Putin would not be empowered to wage or attack Ukraine or anyone else,” Blinken told reporters while in Israel. rice field.
“As you know, and as we’ve heard repeatedly, we don’t have a regime change strategy in Russia or anywhere else,” Blinken added. “In this case, as in any other case, it depends on the people of the country in question. It depends on the people of Russia.”
In a speech in Poland, Biden declared, referring to Putin, “because of God, this man cannot maintain power.” Comments have led to speculation that the White House is pushing for a regime change that could overthrow the Putin administration.
Biden’s remarks were quickly dismissed by Kremlin, and top spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that “the Russian president is elected by the Russians” and that “Biden does not decide.”
“We have a strategy that puts unprecedented pressure on Russia and we are moving it forward,” Blinken told reporters. “And we have a strategy to ensure that we provide as much humanitarian support as possible, and we have a strategy to strengthen NATO.”
With the exception of Blinken, White House officials and Western leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron kept away from Biden’s remarks.
Macron warned against a verbal escalation with Moscow on Sunday, saying “I wouldn’t use those words.”
The French president on Friday said he aims to meet more with Putin in the coming days on the situation in Ukraine and the initiative to help people leaving the besieged city of Mariupol.
Putin sent a unit to Ukraine on February 24, calling it a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine. Ukraine and the West say Russia has launched a provocative war of aggression.
The United Nations Human Rights Agency said on Sunday that 1,119 civilians have been killed and 1,790 have been injured since Russia launched an attack on Ukraine.
In a statement covering the period from February 24 to midnight, when the war began, the United Nations said about 15 girls and 32 boys, and 52 children of unknown gender. Said died.
True casualties are expected to be quite high, according to world groups, and reports have been delayed in some areas of intense hostilities, but many reports still need confirmation. ..
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Jack Phillips is the latest news reporter for The Epoch Times, based in New York.