Ukraine, Russia prepare for talks as Kremlin responds to Biden

Two days after President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” Russian negotiators arrived in Turkey for more peace talks with Ukraine. The talks, set for Tuesday, are scheduled to take place two weeks after the last negotiations.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is prepared to declare its neutrality and consider a compromise on the contested Donbas region. However, he added war will only end if he meets face-to-face with President Putin.

“We are looking for peace, really, without delay,” President Zelenskyy said in a Sunday video address. “Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory. Our goal is obvious: peace and the restoration of normal life of our native state as soon as possible.”

As negotiators from Russia and Ukraine prepared for the talks, the Kremlin responded to comments President Biden made over the weekend in a speech during his trip to Poland. Biden appeared to call for the removal of Putin as president of Russia.

“There’s simply no justification or provocation for Russia’s choice of war. It’s an example, one of the oldest human impulses using brute force and disinformation to satisfy a craving for absolute power and control,” Biden said Saturday. “For God’s sake. This man cannot remain in power.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked back Biden’s comments at a news conference in Jerusalem the next day, saying that Biden meant that “Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine.”

“We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else for that matter,” Blinken said. “In this case, as in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russian people.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denounced Biden’s comments, saying, “It’s not up to the president of the U.S. and not up to the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia.”

On Monday, Peskov described the comments as “a statement that is certainly alarming.”