‘I’m not walking anything back’: Biden stands by Putin comment but insists he’s not indicating policy change

‘The fact of the matter is, I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man,’ Biden says

President Joe Biden refused to back down from comments he made at the weekend saying Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power, but insisted that he was not advocating for a change in policy.

Mr Biden made the remarks on Monday when speaking to reporters after announcing his new budget proposal. His remarks come after he said over the weekend of Mr Putin, “For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The move set off a diplomatic scramble as there were concerns Mr Biden was advocating for regime change as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for more than a month.

“I’m not walking anything back,” he told NBC News reporter Kelly O’Donnell on Monday at the White House. “The fact of the matter is, I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man.”

Mr Biden mentioned how he had just come from being families displaced by Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“But I want to make it clear, I wasn’t then nor am I now articulating a policy change,” he said. “I was expressing moral outrage that I felt and I make no apologies for it.”

Mr Biden added that he did not think that his remarks complicated diplomacy at the moment.

“What complicates the situation at the moment is the escalatory efforts of Putin to continue and engage in carnage and kind of behaviour that makes the whole world say ‘My God, what is this man doing,’” he said.

The president also said that his words did not mean the United States would have any policy to remove Mr Putin from power, even though the words were not in his prepared remarks.

“Because I was talking to the Russian people,” he said. “I was communicating this, not only to the Russian people but to the whole world. This is just stating a simple fact that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable.”

Mr Biden also said Mr Putin has changed significantly since they met in Geneva.

“I don’t what’s changed his mind, his behavior has changed,” he said. Mr Biden said they had previously discussed setting up a strategic dialogue and discussing Russia and Nato’s relationship.

“What changed was nothing remotely approaching that,” he said.

After Mr Biden’s initial comment, the White House quickly sought to clarify, saying that the US president meant that “Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region”. The Kremlin also said the future of Mr Putin was “not for Biden to decide”.