Biden’s Remark on Putin Stirs Anxiety Among Allies

“President Biden’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ came under fire for muddying U.S. policy and threatening to undermine diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Meanwhile, a close American ally, French President Emmanuel Macron, worried that Mr. Biden’s comment Saturday and calling Mr. Putin ‘a butcher’ could also complicate diplomatic efforts to end the war.”

“European diplomats warned too that Mr. Biden’s comments could threaten Western efforts to keep lines of communications with Moscow open.“

The Washington Post reports the Biden remark “threatens to push deeply strained U.S.-Russia relations closer to collapse, former officials and analysts said, with potentially serious implications for Washington’s ability to help steer the war in Ukraine to an end and avoid a wider conflict.”

The Financial Times has a comment from a senior British official: “It’s good in principle to incentivise good behaviour, not encourage worse behaviour by suggesting there is nothing left to lose.”