US President Joe Biden described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a butcher who “cannot remain in power” after meeting Ukrainian refugees in Poland, as Kremlin forces stepped up attacks across Ukraine, including the western city of Lviv.
Biden’s comments, an escalation of US rhetoric towards Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, were not a call for regime change in Russia, a White House official said later, but meant to prepare the world’s democracies for an extended conflict.
While rejecting President Biden’s statement that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that this is not to be decided by him, adding that it should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation.
As the fight since Russia’s February 24 invasion of its neighbour drags on, a visibly irritated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again demanded Western nations send military hardware.
