French president Emmanuel Macron has urged restraint over rhetoric around Russia’s war in Ukraine after his US counterpart Joe Biden appeared to call for the overthrow of Vladimir Putin.
Speaking in Warsaw on Saturday, Mr Biden branded the Russian leader a “butcher” over his invasion of Ukraine, before saying Mr Putin “cannot remain in power”.
The White House was quick to distance itself from the suggestion it supports regime change in Moscow, insisting the US president had meant Mr Putin should not be empowered to wage war against his neighbour.
Mr Macron later criticised Mr Biden’s choice of words, which he implied were unhelpful. "I wouldn’t use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin," he told France 3 TV over the weekend.
"If this is what we want to do, we should not escalate things -- neither with words nor actions," he said.
The French president’s attempt to de-escalate the situation was supported by the far-right politician Marine Le Pen, one of his main competitors in the upcoming presidential election.
"Obviously, those are words that add oil to the fire," she said of Mr Biden’s comments.
"The fact that the president of the Republic is not entering into this escalation is a good thing," Ms Le Pen added.
Mr Biden was also criticised by his predecessor Donald Trump, who said his words risked nuclear war with Russia.
The speech in Warsaw is likely to further deteriorate the relationship between the US and Russia. Although Mr Biden has made his view on Mr Putin plain - having labelled him a “war criminal” earlier this month - his most recent comments were the strongest to-date.
After the speech, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in response: “That’s not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians.”
Five weeks into the war in Ukraine, at least 1,119 civilians have been killed and another 1,790 injured, according to the latest UN figures. However, the true death toll is likely to be much higher.
