Joe Biden ‘gaffe’ on Vladimir Putin scrambles US message on Ukraine

Joe Biden ‘gaffe’ on Vladimir Putin scrambles US message on Ukraine
Featured Times
Spread the love

[ad_1]

President Joe Biden’s apparent call for Vladimir Putin’s exit reverberated instantly around the world, sparking an administration rush to course-correct — and risks scrambling US efforts to rally a united front on the Ukraine conflict.

Biden’s comment that the Russian president “cannot remain in power” — delivered in Warsaw at the close of three days of marathon diplomacy — was termed “a horrendous gaffe” by one Republican senator.

A senior US analyst said it could have the effect of lengthening the war.

And even France’s president warned such language could “escalate” a conflict the United States and its NATO allies have sought at all costs to contain, and undercut Western efforts to help suffering Ukrainians.

The remark came as Biden wound up a forceful speech on Saturday capping what had been a widely-praised European visit, aimed at presenting a determined front against Russia’s invasion.

His ad-libbed words — “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain power” — caught even US advisors off guard.

The White House sprung immediately into action, clarifying within minutes that Biden was not advocating “regime change” in Russia. When asked by reporters Sunday if that was what he was calling for, the president replied: “No.”

But the comments by Biden — who hours earlier called Putin a “butcher” — drew predictable fury from Moscow, raised eyebrows in allied countries, and sent the president’s advisors into high gear to mollify the criticism.

No ‘regime change’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Jerusalem, joined in forcefully denying Biden was calling for Putin’s ouster.

Biden’s point, Blinken said, was that “Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else.”

The choice of Russia’s leader, Blinken said, is “up to the Russians.”

The administration sent out the US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, to underscore the same message — stating across multiple TV networks that “the US does not have a policy of regime change towards Russia, full stop.”

Biden’s comments, Smith told CNN’s “State of the Union,” were “a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard” during an emotional visit with Ukrainian refugees.

But President Emmanuel Macron of France, a close US ally who has spoken frequently with Putin since the invasion, warned the West not to “escalate in words or actions” — or risk hampering vital humanitarian efforts, including hopes of evacuating the devastated city of Mariupol.

As noted by a senior Republican lawmaker, Senator Jim Risch, the remarks ran 180-degrees counter to the Biden administration’s constant efforts until now to stop the conflict from escalating.

“There’s not a whole lot more you can do to escalate than to call for regime change,” he told CNN.

Reputation for gaffes

Biden has a decades-long reputation for unfortunate off-the-cuff remarks — newspapers have previously listed his “top 10 gaffes of all time” — and Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the president had again shot himself in the foot.

Biden delivered “a good speech,” Risch told CNN, with “a horrendous gaffe right at the end of it.”

“My gosh, I wish they would keep him on script.”

Not everyone saw the remark, however undiplomatic, as carrying an unstated threat — or in fact as a gaffe at all.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Anyone who’s a war criminal, who attacks a neighboring country, who’s doing all these atrocities… definitely cannot stay in power in a civilized world.”

And Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, said on Twitter that Biden’s words needed to be read with nuance.

“Biden expressed what billions around the world and millions inside Russia also believe. He did not say that the US should remove him from power. There is a difference.”

But multiple experts in the United States and abroad weighed in with criticism.

Richard Haass, an American diplomat who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, said Biden had “made a difficult situation more difficult and a dangerous situation more dangerous.”

“Putin will see it as confirmation of what he’s believed all along,” Haass said on Twitter. “Bad lapse in discipline that runs risk of extending the scope and duration of the war.”

Equally stern, Francois Heisbourg of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said American leaders would do better not to “shoot off their mouths.”

 

[ad_2]

Source link

Tags:

1,399 thoughts on “Joe Biden ‘gaffe’ on Vladimir Putin scrambles US message on Ukraine”

  1. It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to
    be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or tips.

    Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.

    I desire to read even more things about it!

  3. Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
    Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Appreciate it

  5. Keno – A bit like bingo, keno needs a player to choose numbers
    between 1 aand 80 and watch as 20 numbers are randomly drawn.

    Feel free to visit my homepage :: gcsnow.net

  712. Favorite casino table gamesNow that you know that JackpotCity Casino is a trusted, legacy online casino with reasonable options for withdrawing and depositing, what kind of fun can you fucking have on this site? Well, it turns out a lot! If you have a favorite casino game at your local establishment, I have some news for you. It’s going to be here. It turns out; people want to get their gamble on no matter the state of the world. Whether they are on the bus, in their home, pissing in the bathtub, or whatever the case may be. The ability to play casino favorites without being around other people is fucking amazing. Online casinos prove that the trend is here to stay. So get on board! Visit an online casino like JackpotCity Casino, and say goodbye to going to the brick-and-mortar casinos ever again!
    http://future-wiki.win/index.php?title=Tipsport_bonus_zdarma
    Chumba Casino has an exciting roster of casino games that consists of both slot games and table games, a rarity for many Sweepstakes Casinos. Let’s take a look at our picks for the top games available at Chumba Casino. VICI Properties Inc. “VICI Properties Inc. Announces First Quarter 2023 Results.” Although Chumba Casino has consistently solid ratings, players often look for alternatives. Other sites often have better games than Chumba Casino, especially brand-new sweepstakes casinos such as WOW Vegas and Fortune Coins, which offer rare options like keno and multiplayer fish. Luckily, there are numerous sites like Chumba Casino in the sweepstakes site industry to check out: Chumba Casino and all sites like it are entirely free to join and play. Remember – they’re social casinos, which makes them different from gambling sites. Chumba Casino won’t offer real money prizes but has plenty of excellent games where you can win virtual rewards. As mentioned earlier, these can be exchanged for cash or gift cards, the latter being the most popular option.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *