German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. File photoBERLIN, Mar 27German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, commenting on the speech of American President Joe Biden in Warsaw, said that NATO does not have the goal of changing power in Russia. «This is not NATO's goal, including the goal of the American president. I spoke with him at the White House for a long time. And we are both completely unanimous that regime change (in Russia) is not on the agenda and is not the goal of the policy that we are pursuing together,» Scholz said in an interview with ARD. He recalled that after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan Biden said that the goal of American policy is not a change of power. Scholz added at the same time that Germany would like democracy to spread, but «it is up to peoples and nations to fight for these freedoms.» «But what should we guarantee — that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states are not violated, that wars are not started just to change borders,» Scholz said.
He added that he does not consider Biden's words a mistake. «He said he did,» Scholz added.
Peskov said that it is not for Biden to decide who is in power in Russia. Concluding his European tour, Biden delivered a lengthy speech in the Polish capital on Saturday, which was devoted to the situation in Ukraine. The US president's speech contained numerous accusations against the Russian Federation and its leadership in connection with Moscow's special military operation in that country. At the end of the speech, Biden said that Ukraine «will never be a victory for Russia» and that the Russian leader «cannot remain in power.» Later, the White House clarified that Biden did not mean a change of power in the Russian Federation. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Biden's words, noted that it was not Biden who should be in power in the Russian Federation, the president of the country was elected by the people of Russia. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Russian Armed Forces, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive, but there is no talk of the occupation of Ukraine, the Russian president emphasized. Russia, said Permanent Representative to NATO