'The US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia’: US ambassador to NATO

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith on Sunday appeared to contradict President Joe Biden’s comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power.

He said in an interview with CNN, "The US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia, full stop."

After calling Putin a “war criminal,” “a murderous dictator" and "a pure thug," Biden further underscored that the US seeks regime change in Moscow on Saturday, describing the Russian leader as a "butcher" while meeting Ukrainian government officials and refugees in Warsaw.

Biden has repeatedly accused former President Donald Trump of not being tough with Putin and began demonizing the Russian leader soon after entering the White House on January 20, 2021, when he called him “a killer.”

On Saturday Biden turned heads when he went on to say that Putin “cannot remain in power,” ratcheting up his policy of regime change in Moscow.

“A dictator, bent on rebuilding an empire, will never erase the people’s love for liberty,” Biden said at the end of a sweeping speech in Poland. “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”

“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said. 

Later on Saturday, a White House official attempted to clarify that Biden “was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” but rather was making the point that Putin “cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday also said the US has no plans for regime change in Russia.

Asked if Biden’s comment was a mistake, Smith said the remark was “a principled human reaction” to the stories he heard from Ukrainian refugees earlier that day.

“The president had spent the day visiting with Ukrainian refugees, he went to the National Stadium in Warsaw and literally met with hundreds of Ukrainians. He heard their heroic stories as they were fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia's brutal war in Ukraine. At the moment, I think that was a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard that day,” Smith said.

Asked if the US is not having a policy of regime change in Russia, Smith said the Biden administration does not believe  Washington can empower the Russian president to wage a war in Ukraine.

“I think what it means is that we are not pursuing a policy of regime change. But I think the full administration, the president included, believes that we cannot empower Putin right now to wage war in Ukraine or pursue these acts of aggression,” Smith said.

Biden's Putin comment 'a horrendous gaffe'

Republican Senator James Risch on Sunday said Biden’s comment was “a horrendous gaffe.”

Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Biden delivered a “good speech" in Warsaw, but he slammed him for saying that Putin “cannot remain in power.”

“He gave a good speech at the end, but as you pointed out already, there was a horrendous gaffe right at the end of it,” Risch told co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I wish he would stay on script. Whoever wrote that speech did a good job for him. But my gosh, I wish they would keep him on script,” he added.

The Idaho Republican on Sunday said Biden’s comment was problematic because a call for a regime change represents a large escalation.

“I think most people who don't deal in the lane of foreign relations don't realize that those nine words that he uttered would cause the kind of eruption that they did. But anytime you say or even as he did, suggest, that the policy was regime change, it's gonna cause a huge problem,” Risch said.

“This administration has done everything they can to stop escalating. There's not a whole lot more you can do to escalate than to call for regime change,” he added.

The senator himself attempted to walk back Biden’s comment before again urging the president to “stay on script.”

“The White House tried to walk it back immediately. Tony Blinken, the secretary of State, tried to walk it back immediately. I'll walk it back right now, that is not the policy of the United States of America. Please, Mr. President, stay on script,” he said.

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Earlier this week, a top Greek diplomat said the US sanctions against Russia are aimed at regime change in Moscow. 

He told The Hill in an interview in Washington, DC, published on Tuesday that the coordinated Western sanctions against Russia over its military campaign in Ukraine are aimed at regime change in Moscow.

Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Varvitsiotis Miltiadis hailed Biden for goading countries to impose coordinated sanctions on Moscow, but lamented Turkey’s absence from the Western push to punish Putin.

Miltiadis was in Washington calling on policymakers there to pressurize Turkey to align with the West against Russia.

“If we don't drag [Turkey] into the sanction regime, then Russia will not feel as heavy [pressure from] the package of these sanctions that have already been imposed,” Miltiadis said.

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