Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has downplayed Joe Biden’s call for Vladimir Putin to be removed from power as world leaders seek to distance themselves from the diplomatic gaffe.
“For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Mr Biden said in an unscripted remark at the end of a speech in Poland on Saturday.
The comment was quickly walked back by his administration, with an official clarifying the US did not have a strategy of regime change in Russia.
Asked by host Karl Stefanovic how it was possible the US President could make such an “unfathomable” comment, Mr Rudd downplayed it as a “human mistake”.
“Mate, I’ve done a few of those myself over the years. I think we all do when you’re running a government,” he said, potentially referring to the time he, post-leadership spill, referred to himself as the prime minister when he was the foreign minister – or the time he was caught on camera hurling expletives about China.
“You just occasionally just blah, but I think he was just expressing his sentiment from the heart.
“Bottom line is, Putin knows the Russians. There’s not about to be a special operations led by the CIA to go in there and decapixjmtzywtate the Russian leadership.
“That’s just not possible.”
Mr Rudd’s comments echo those of US permanent representative to NATO Julianne Smith, who called the President’s comments a “principled human reaction”.
Mr Biden’s remark is just the latest in a series of blunders on Mr Putin. Earlier in the day Mr Biden referred to the Russian President as a “butcher”.
US Secretary of State Mr Blinken sought to soften Mr Biden’s off-the-cuff comments.
“I think the President, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron distanced himself from the comments on Sunday evening, warning against the use of inflammatory language as Ukraine and Russia continue ceasefire negotiations.
“We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without escalation,” Mr Macron said. “
“If this is what we want to do, we should not escalate things – neither with words or actions.”
