Sharjah 24 – AFP: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday President Vladimir Putin's position is "up to the Russians", playing down President Joe Biden's comments that suggested a desire for regime change in Moscow.

Biden's point, Blinken said in Al Quds, was that "Putin cannot be empowered to wage war, or engage in aggression against Ukraine, or anyone else".

Speaking in Warsaw on Saturday, Biden sparked controversy when he called the Russian leader a "butcher" and added: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."

That raised questions of whether the United States was advocating non-democratic "regime change" in Russia.

"As you've heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else for that matter," said Blinken.

"As in any case, it's up to the people of the country in question. It's up to the Russians," he said.