Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on Sunday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one seeking to initiate a regime change after President Biden suggested Putin should be removed from power over the weekend.
Dana Bash, host of CNN’s “State of the Union,” asked Warner if he believed Biden’s remarks in Poland had done any damage. During a speech in Warsaw, Biden called Putin a “butcher” and added “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
“Well, Dana, there is one individual that’s trying to make regime change in Europe. And that’s Vladimir Putin trying to change the regime in Ukraine,” said Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“At the end of the day, the regime in Russia will be determined by the Russian people. And I hope the Russian people will make those decisions going forward,” he added.
“Clearly, Putin has overplayed his hand in Ukraine. Russian forces are reeling. And I think that is partially because they know they are involved in an illegal war, but it will be up for the Russian people to make that decision.”
After Biden’s remark, which came at the end of a high-profile trip to spotlight NATO unity in countering Putin, a White House official quickly attempted to walk back the remark, telling reporters that “The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”
Bash asked Warner if he supported a U.S. policy of regime change in Russia.
“It is up to the Russian people to determine who is going to be in power in the Kremlin,” Warner reiterated, while noting that Putin’s actions had put Russia into “a status of a pariah nation.”