The Putin perplexity Biden's blunder may at least force the west to focus on an endgame

At the end of what had been a largely flawless visit to Europe, during which he focused on the misery Vladimir Putin was imposing on Russia, Joe Biden closed his 27 -minute speech last Saturday evening in Warsaw by conjuring up the image of a less popular US president – George W Bush – when he said: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

- Patrick Wintour

The US president has previously called Putin a killer, a pure thug, a war criminal and a butcher, but he had never advocated regime change, risking turning the war for the defence of Ukraine to a familiar one of US aggression.

Biden can fairly say it was a personal expression of loathing, but, during his election campaign, he often said how much the words of a US president mattered and needed to be weighed. He would not be a Twitter loudmouth like the man he w as to unseat, Donald Trump.

It was clear from the way White House aides initially avoided any comment to the media that the final ad-libbed line had not been expected. It was not the first time that his off-script remarks have required official reworking.

An official explained: “The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change.”

His remarks in their raw form hardly sat well with the UK government briefing on Saturday night that sanctions could be lifted if and when Putin left Ukraine.