Biden’s strong words for Putin reverberate around globe

 

Biden’s strong words for Putin reverberate around globe

JERUSALEM — President Biden’s biting comments calling Vladimir Putin a “dictator” who “cannot remain in power” have drawn the world’s attention, including a warning from French President Emmanuel Macron about escalating rhetoric, even as the White House sought to clarify the remarks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that there is no U.S. “strategy of regime change in Russia” and that Biden’s point was that Putin “cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.”

Macron warned against an “escalation of words and actions,” adding that he wouldn’t “use those kinds of terms” as he continues to communicate with Putin.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister praised Biden’s overall message from Warsaw, saying it was “important to have the sense of an international leadership and understanding of the tragedy which is happening.”

Hours before Biden’s speech, two powerful rockets struck Lviv, a western Ukrainian city that has been mostly spared from attacks. Russia confirmed that it had struck what it said were military targets.

Here’s what to know

Russian forces appear to be trying to encircle Ukrainian troops in separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine, advancing from the direction of Kharkiv in the northeast and Mariupol in the southeast, a British intelligence report said Sunday.

The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence accused Russia on Sunday of trying to divide his country in two — “to create North and South Korea in Ukraine” — with the eastern part controlled by Russia.

Russia’s communications regulator warned Russian media not to publish a new interview with the Ukrainian president and said it will investigate outlets that conducted it. A Ukrainian presidential adviser called the agency’s actions “cowardly and shameful.”

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Officials clarify U.S. policy following Biden’s Warsaw speech

Officials said the United States does not support regime change in Russia, one day after President Biden said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power." (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post)

By Miriam Berger, Rick Noack, John Hudson, Adela Suliman, Rachel Pannett, Paulina Firozi and Brittany Shammas 

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