Biden lashes at Putin, calls for Western resolve for freedom

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, VANESSA GERA and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Joe Biden delivered a forceful and highly personal condemnation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday, summoning a call for liberal democracy and a durable resolve among Western nations in the face of a brutal autocrat. As he capped a four-day trip to Europe, a blend of emotive scenes with refugees and standing among other world leaders in grander settings, Biden said of Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”  It was a dramatic escalation in rhetoric that the White House found itself quickly walking back. Before he even left Poland, aides were clarifying that Biden wasn’t calling for an immediate change in government in Moscow.