Just hours after four bombs hit Ukraine's western city of Lviv on Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden took to the podium at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, telling the crowd that Russia's leader Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power."
"For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."
In his fiery speech, Biden condemned Putin's month-long war in Ukraine and urged the world's democracies to unite in what he called a, quote, "new battle for freedom."
"Let us resolve to put the strength of democracies in action to thwart the designs of autocracies. Let us remember that the test of this moment is the test of all time."
A White House official later said that Biden remark's did not indicate that Washington is seeking a regime change in Russia, saying, quote, "The President's point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change."
Still, his comments came on a day of escalating rhetoric, as Biden also branded Putin a "butcher" to reporters when meeting with refugees in the Polish capital who have fled the war in Ukraine.
"...He's a butcher…"
Ukrainian Yelena Makhulska was among the refugees present during Biden's visit.
"I'd like to tell the president that together all the people we have to stop Putin. So that he doesn't bomb our country. Because we'd all like to go home."
On Saturday, Biden said the West was united against Russia's invasion but also added that NATO was a defensive security alliance which never sought Russia's demise.
Biden said Putin's desire for "absolute power" was a strategic failure for Russia and a direct challenge to a European peace that has largely prevailed since World War Two.
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