French President Emmanuel Macron has warned against verbal "escalation" with Moscow after his US counterpart Joe Biden described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "butcher." "I would not use those words," Macron said in an interview with broadcaster France 3. The French president stressed that "everything must be done to stop the situation from escalating" if there is to be any hope in stopping Russia's war in Ukraine. Macron told France 3 he saw his task as "achieving first a cease-fire and then the total withdrawal of (Russian) troops by diplomatic means. If we want to do that, we can't...
"The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change."
@business JUST IN: President Joe Biden called for regime change in Russia, saying in a speech in Poland that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” after the Ukraine invasion