US President Joe Biden clarified on Sunday that the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia, after his declaration that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," Reuters reported.

Biden's comments in Poland on Saturday also included calling Putin a "butcher," and appeared to be a sharp escalation of the US approach to Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Top American diplomats on Sunday had played down his declaration, and Biden, asked by a reporter if he was calling for regime change in Russia, gave a one-word reply: "No."