"This man can't stay in power." Why does Biden insist on attacking Putin personally?

WASHINGTON

- "For God's sake, this man can't stay in power," the words of US President Joe Biden are consistent with his long history of personal attacks on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the start of his term in office on January 20, 2021, Biden has vowed to change relations with Russia from the warmth of the past four years during the rule of former President Donald Trump, stressing that Moscow will be held accountable for its actions.

A long history of relations between Biden and Putin over recent decades has drawn together, and they met several times while Biden was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Biden also met more than once with Putin while he was Vice President Barack Obama between 2008 and 2016.

They met for the first time in 2011 when Putin served as prime minister and Biden was vice president. According to Biden's previous statement;

"I don't think you have a soul," he told Putin in a private meeting in his Kremlin office.

The two men clashed again after 2014, when Obama tasked Vice President Biden with supporting Ukraine in the wake of its democratic revolution and pressuring Russia to scale back its military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

Several weeks after arriving in the White House, Biden responded positively to a reporter who asked if Putin was a "murderer."

When famous broadcaster George Stephanopoulos on ABC asked Biden directly whether he considered the Russian president a "murderer," Biden replied, "Yes, I think so."

The summit, which was their first face-to-face meeting as two presidents, in Geneva, failed to heal the rift.

Before the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Biden described Putin as a dictator, a tyrant and a thug.

Before the war began, the two presidents spoke twice by video call, the first on the seventh of last December, and then on the 12th of last February, where Biden repeated his warnings against the consequences of invading Ukraine.

Sharp criticism after the Russian war on Ukraine

With the outbreak of the current crisis, Biden described Putin as a "liar", then described him as a "war criminal" in response to the killing of civilians in Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks, and this was the first time Biden used this description against the Russian president.

During his visit on Saturday to a Ukrainian refugee camp in Warsaw, Biden called Putin a "butcher" after speaking to a refugee woman from the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has seen weeks of Russian bombing and attacks on civilians.

Thus, Biden's words yesterday - in which he wished that Putin would not remain in power - were consistent with the general line of the US president's convictions regarding his Russian counterpart.

In response to Biden's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any head of state should remain vigilant, adding, "Without a doubt, personal insults of this kind narrow the scope of our bilateral relations with the current US government."

Many American experts and commentators also expressed their rejection of what President Biden said, and considered that these words impede the possibility of achieving any quick solution to the crisis in Ukraine, and confirm the convictions of the Russian government and a large segment of the Russian people that Washington seeks to change the regime in Moscow.

"Unfortunately, as I wrote previously, Russia believes that America has intentions to change the regime towards Moscow," said Payne Denson, an academic at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in Russia. "Biden's unfortunate statement will reinforce this belief and we will continue this dilemma."

While the former US diplomat and expert at the Council on Foreign Relations Martin Indyk noted the need for the president to control his words, he said, "He is the American president, and his words are important, which is why he was careful about what he would do if Putin used chemical weapons. For the sake of Ukraine, Biden will need Putin to end the war." How would he do that if he described him as a war criminal and called for his overthrow?

Aaron David, a former diplomat and expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed with the criticism of Biden, writing on his Twitter page, saying, "After Biden said that Putin cannot stay in power, it will not matter if there is clarification or correction from the White House, what Biden said confirms what was Putin believes him all the time that Washington's policy is regime change in Moscow, so this becomes a fight not just for Ukraine, but for Putin's own survival. The hawks in the administration and beyond will love this development."

Biden says Putin can't remain in power.

No correction will matter.

Only confirms what Putin has believed all along — US policy is a regime change, thereby ensuring this becomes a fight not just for Ukraine but for Putin's survival.

Hawks in Administration and outside will love it.

— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) March 26, 2022

On the contrary, some experts and commentators defended Biden's talk, led by Michael McFaul, America's ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, and currently an expert at Stanford University, who tweeted, "With regard to Putin, Biden expressed what billions of people around the world believe, and millions inside Russia as well. Biden did not He says the United States should remove Putin from power, there is a difference."

David Axelod, a senior adviser to former President Obama, agreed with Biden's argument, saying, "No matter how true the phrase 'Putin must go' in Biden's speech, Putin is the last person on this planet who can complain about interference in another country's internal affairs."

Evod Daalder, a former ambassador to NATO and current chair of the Chicago Council on International Relations, defended: “There is a lot to be said about Biden saying that Putin cannot stay in power. Biden's broader vision is: We need a united democratic West to confront brutal authoritarian regimes like Russia. We need to stay in the fight for the long term. Ultimately this pressure will lead to change in Russia."

Much is being made of Biden saying cannot "remain in power Putin."

His bigger point was this: We need a united democratic west to counter brutal autocracies like Russia.

We need to stay in the fight for the long haul.

And ultimately that pressure will lead to change in Russia.

— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 26, 2022

Biden's words caused a surprise that reached the point of shock in Washington, which necessitated the intervention of the White House less than two hours after the end of Biden's speech to save what could be saved. Russia.

"What the president wanted to say was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise authority over his neighbors or the region. He was not talking about Putin's rule in Russia nor about regime change," the official said.

The White House's clarification is consistent with senior US officials' reiteration that removing Putin from power is not among America's goals.

"For us, it's not about regime change in Moscow, the Russian people have to decide who they want to lead," Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken said in a press briefing a few days ago.