United States President Joe Biden, while addressing the ongoing Ukraine invasion, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “can not remain in power.” However, the White House swiftly clarified the President’s statement and said he was not discussing a “regime change” in Russia.

While Biden grabbed the Kremlin’s attention with his statement on Saturday, the White House statement read, “The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”

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The statement added, “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change”, according to reports from NBC News.

Moscow’s response to Biden’s statement was as quick as the White House’s. While speaking to Reuters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “That is not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians.”

Asked about the impact of such statements from Biden on Russia-United States relations, Peskov described it as “extremely negative.”

“With each such statement, and Biden now prefers to make them daily, he is narrowing the window of opportunity for our bilateral relations under the current administration,” Peskov said, according to reports from Associated Press.

Biden, who is currently visiting Poland, has made remarks that have stirred reports at the White House, attracting a string of questions. While visiting a refugee camp in Warsaw, the United States President was asked for a comment on Putin, to which he replied: “He is a butcher.”

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Biden also rebuked Putin for his claim the invasion sought to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. The president of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish and his father’s family died in the Holocaust.

“Putin has the gall to say he’s de-Nazifying Ukraine. It is a lie,” Biden said. “It is just cynical. He knows that and it is also obscene.”