Biden Says Putin ‘Cannot Remain in Power’ in Speech on Ukraine

President Joe Biden forcefully warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” in his strongest speech yet condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase the people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never run down the road to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia,” Biden said in a speech in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

In a 25-minute speech bookended with historic quotes from Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope, Biden repeatedly attacked Putin personally for launching his power crusade. He characterized Putin as a totalitarian leader who sought to remake the Soviet Union, wrongly believing the Ukrainian people would “roll over” as he attacked their home.

“Not much of a student of history,” he snarked.

Biden also warned Putin of NATO’s might, saying the international alliance has never sought Russia’s end but would respond with force if Russia attacked a NATO member.

“Don’t even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory,” Biden said. “We have a sacred obligation under Article Five to defend each and every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power.”

The Kremlin fired back at Biden’s statement Saturday. “This is not to be decided by Mr. Biden. It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation,” a spokesman told CNN. A White House official later walked back the comments to Wall Street Journal reporter Tarini Parti, saying Biden solely called for Putin not to exercise his power outside of Russia, not regime change.

Biden’s speech concluded a day in which he met with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, defense minister Oleksii Reznikov, and Polish President Andrzej Duda to discuss the shared alliances against Russia’s totalitarian efforts. Biden also met with Ukrainian refugees in Poland, highlighting their plight on Twitter.

“You don’t need to speak the same language to feel the roller coaster of emotions in their eyes,” he wrote.

The speech came hours after a seventh Russian general was killed in Ukraine, the latest casualty as Russia struggles to maintain its offense in its monthlong war against its eastern neighbor.

Lt. Gen. Yakov Rezantsev was killed in a strike at the Chornobaivka airbase near the city of Kherson, according to the BBC. He is the second lieutenant general to die during the war and the second to die at the base, which is being used as a command post; Lt. Gen. Andrei Mordvichev was also killed there last week.

Ukrainian intelligence is actively targeting high-level Russian military officials, a Ukrainian official told The Wall Street Journal. The generals are believed to be using unencrypted means of communication, increasing their vulnerability.

Rezantsev is the second high-level official to be killed in as many days, though not the second by Ukrainians. Officials reported that the Russian commander of the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade was killed by his own troops after it suffered large losses, a sign that morale has shifted among some military factions.

The death comes as Russian forces—and Russian President Vladimir Putin—sought to redefine their version of winning the war as Ukraine maintains its stamina in different regions throughout the country.

Russian forces bombed multiple spots in Lviv Saturday afternoon, its first air strike on the city just 40 miles from the Polish border. The missiles reportedly hit a communications tower and a supermarket, though no casualties have yet been confirmed.

“The Russian army struck at Lviv,” Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Twitter. “We are waiting for information from the Military Administration. Stay in the shelters.”

The move demonstrated Russia’s flailing efforts to find momentum. A Pentagon official said Friday that Kherson—the first city held by Russian forces following February’s invasion—was “contested territory” due to Ukrainian resistance, according to The New York Times. Russian forces have also largely given up their quest to take the country’s capital Kyiv by ground.

Still, the threat of higher-stakes warfare remains. Russia has repeatedly threatened the use of chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons against anything it believes could be an “existential threat” to its sovereignty, and the U.S. has worried Russia could launch a false-flag operation to justify its claim.

Should Russia resort to such weapons, President Joe Biden said Thursday the U.S. said it would respond depending “on the nature of the use.” The sentiment was echoed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Friday to reporters, according to ABC News.

“We are working through contingency planning for a range of different scenarios,” Sullivan said. “In broad terms, I believe that there is convergence around the fundamental nature of how the alliance would respond to these issues.”

Biden explicitly separated Putin’s threats from the Russian people during his speech Saturday, reminding them of the perils of World War II and how Putin sought to impose the same upon the Ukrainian people.

“You, the Russian people, are not our enemy,” he said. “This is not who you are. This is not the future you deserve for your families and your children. Telling you the truth, this war is not worthy of you, the Russian people.”