(JustPatriots.com)- According to President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin might still hold onto power if he withdraws his soldiers from Ukraine.
Jake Tapper of CNN questioned Biden during their interview on Tuesday whether Putin had a way out of the battle that had started on February 24 and was referred to by Russia as a “special military operation.”
As Ukraine fights Putin’s soldiers, the U.S. and its Western allies have placed severe sanctions on Russia and given the nation assistance, including military hardware.
If there was a way for Putin to leave Ukraine without annexing land in a manner that the Russian president would find acceptable, Tapper questioned Biden.
“I’m not aware of his thoughts. He could undoubtedly go. He could just depart and presumably maintain his status in Russia,” Biden responded.
According to the president, Putin may be able to persuade the Russian populace that this was something he believed made sense, but now he’s done what he wanted, and it’s time to return the Russians home.
Additionally, Biden said that he would only meet with Putin to discuss the release of 31-year-old WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is being jailed in Russia, during the forthcoming G20 conference.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Russian foreign ministry for comment.
Russian military setbacks in Ukraine have sparked concerns about Putin’s ability to hold onto power without a triumph.
Four districts that Moscow has formally annexed—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—are not entirely under its authority, and partial deployment of the Russian military has been fraught with difficulties.
In March, President Biden stirred some debate when he said in Poland that Putin “cannot continue in power” and referred to him as a “butcher.”
Later, the government claimed that Biden was not advocating for a Russian regime change, which would have marked a dramatic change in American policy.
Julianne Smith, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, stated, “at the moment, I believe it was a basic human response to the things that he had heard that day.”
Biden had been discussing the hardships of Ukrainian migrants in Warsaw.
“The United States does not pursue a regime change strategy in Russia,” Smith said succinctly.
“Full stop,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. It was up to the Russian people to decide who will govern their country.”
Putin had a 77 percent popularity rating in September, according to polling by the non-governmental Levada Analytical Center in Moscow, but the reliability of such findings in Russia has been questioned.
