U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just clarified that the Biden administration, with the measures that it has taken against Russian President Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine, is not seeking a “regime change” in Russia, Fox News reports.  

Blinken’s remark came on Friday during an interview with BBC. The interview took place in Brussels where Blinken met with NATO allies.

“In any event, it’s not up to us,” Blinken said. “The Russian people need to decide their leadership. They need to decide whether the leaders that are there are actually advancing and representing their needs, their interests, their will.”

“It’s absolutely not up to us,” Blinken insisted.

Blinken’s plea

During his interview with the BBC, Blinken went on to appeal directly to the Russian people. Blinken said, if he could, he would ask the Russian people how the “war of aggression, unprovoked, unwarranted on Ukraine” is benefitting them in their daily lives.

“How is it sending a kid to school? How is it getting you a job? How is it cleaning the air? How is it dealing with the things you care about?” he asked.

Blinken went on to note that the Ukrainian invasion is hurting the Russian people in more ways than one as they are currently bearing the brunt of the sanctions that the West has placed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken also praised the people of Ukraine for their “resilience” against the Russians.

Blinken drives the point home

Blinken restated what he said during the BBC interview during another interview that took place on Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation. 

“For us, it’s not about regime change,” he said. “That’s- the Russian people have to decide who they want to lead them.”

This talk of a “regime change” came after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called upon the people of Russia to assassinate Putin, or, in Graham’s words, to “take this guy out.” Graham was heavily criticized for the remark, and the Biden administration subsequently put out a statement saying, “that is not the position of the United States government and certainly not a statement you’d hear come from the mouth of anybody working in this administration.”

Graham subsequently backed away from his initial position. Now, he is only calling for Putin’s arrest.