LVIV, Ukraine — Removing Russian President Vladimir Putin from power is not on Washington’s agenda, the top U.S diplomat said Sunday as Ukraine’s leader accused the West of lacking courage for failing to commit fighter jets and tanks to his nation’s war against invading Russian forces.
President Joe Biden’s dramatic Saturday declaration — “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” a reference to Putin — has prompted a frantic effort from U.S. officials to walk back what appeared to be a White House endorsement of pushing the Russian leader out of office.
“We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia, or anywhere else, for that matter,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told reporters in Jerusalem on Sunday. “In this case, as in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question, it’s up to the Russian people.”
