During a Friday appearance on MSNBC's "The ReidOut," Vice President Kamala Harris clarified that the Biden administration was "not into" ousting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Let me be very clear. We are not into regime change. And that is not our policy. Period," Harris assured host Joy Reid.
"Our policy from the beginning has been about ensuring that there are going to be real costs exacted against Russia in the form of severe sanctions, which we know are having a real impact and an immediate impact, not to mention the longer-term impact, which is about saying there's going to be consequence and accountability when you commit the kinds of atrocities that he is committing."
The declaration from the vice president comes amid a widely criticized gaffe from President Joe Biden while delivering a speech in Warsaw, Poland, last week.
Biden stated that Putin "cannot remain in power" during his address.
"Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future rooted in democracy and principles, hope and light, of decency and dignity, of freedom and possibilities. For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power," he said at the time.
On the president's return to the District of Columbia the following day, a reporter asked Biden if he was calling for regime change in the country. He replied with an emphatic: "No," according to the Financial Times.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also responded to the comment from Biden, verifying that the EU was not seeking to overthrow the Russian leader, the Times reported.
"We are not after a regime change. That is something for the Russian citizens to decide if they of course could decide that," Borrell said.
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