Joe Biden accuses Putin of running 'strangled democracy' in Russia; Kremlin hits back

As the Kremlin intensified its move to ensure actions against anti-war protestors, US President Joe Biden on Saturday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of running a "strangled democracy" in Russia. Speaking at Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, Biden denounced Putin's repeated attempts to justify the attack on Ukraine. Calling his Russian counterpart "a cynical liar," the US leader remarked that "Putin cannot remain in power" after his ongoing brutality in Ukraine.

"Today, Russia has strangled democracy and sought to do so elsewhere, not only in his homeland. Under false claims of ethnic solidarity, he's invalidated neighbouring nations. Putin has the gall to say he's 'denazifying Ukraine'," Biden said

"It's a lie. It's just cynical. He knows that. And it's also obscene. President Zelensky was democratically elected. He's Jewish. His father's family was wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust. And Putin has the audacity, like all our autocrats before him, to believe that might will make right," he added.

The US President further lambasted his Russian counterpart for condemning the international military bloc, NATO. Referring to Putin as a "criminal", Biden said, "He (Putin) wants to portray NATO enlargement as an imperial project aimed at destabilising Russia. Nothing is further from the truth. NATO, a defensive alliance, never sought the demise of Russia."

Biden draws flak from Russia over remarks on Putin's regime

Noting Biden's remarks on the Russian regime, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Saturday responded, saying that it is not for the US President to decide if Putin should "stay in power" in Russia. "It is not to be decided by Mr. Biden. It should be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation," Peskov said, as quoted by CNN.

White House later clarified that Biden was in fact "not calling for regime change". Addressing the reporters, a senior while House official explained that Biden indicated that Putin "must not be allowed" to rule over his neighbouring countries. Biden was not pointing at Putin's power in Russia, the official said, adding that the statement was an "unprepared addition" to the speech.

"The President's point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region. He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change," the senior official said on Saturday.

The Russian President on February 24 launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "special military operation" to eliminate Azov nationalists from the former Soviet nation. Russia has throughout defended its attack, claiming that it is aimed to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. While Russian Federation said it has been targetting neo-Nazi hideouts, the ground situation is far contrasting with thousands of lives lost and millions forced to displace in Ukraine.

Biden during his speech in Warsaw referred to Putin's defence as "false ethnic solidarity being used to invalidate neighbouring nations." Biden also chided Russia for failing to comply with rules-based international order after it launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

(Image: AP)