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.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken Evan Vucci/Associated Press
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.
In Russia, the state communications regulator and Internet censor, Roskomnadzor, has warned Russian media outlets not to publish a new interview with the Ukrainian president.
The statement posted on the agency’s Telegram page comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in an interview with Russian journalists – posting the discussion to his own Telegram channel on Sunday.
Roskomnadzor referred to outlets, “including those that are foreign media outlets, carrying out the functions of foreign agents,” that participated in the interview. It said it had begun to investigate outlets that conducted the interview “to determine the extent of responsibility and the taking of measures of response.”
Russia’s crackdown on media has intensified during the war. This month, Putin signed into law a measure prohibiting what Russia calls “fake” news about its military as well as language calling the invasion an “invasion” rather than a “special military operation.” Violators could face a 15-year prison sentence. Roskomnadzor had already warned outlets to delete pieces that used terms such as “invasion” or “war.”
As a result, major media organizations announced plans to curb activity in Russia over concerns about consequences for those reporting accurate news.
In a tweet thread, the U.S.-based managing editor of the English-language site for Russian independent outlet Meduza shared some of what Zelensky discussed in the recent interviews. He said, Kevin Rothrock posted, that entire suburbs around Kyiv had been obliterated: “No more homes. No more streets.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Roskomnadzor’s actions to prevent the sharing of an “interview in which the reasons for the barbaric war started by the Russian Federation Against Ukraine are studied in detail” are “at a minimum … cowardly and shameful.”
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