His words – despite the White House clarification – will likely also fuel President Putin’s own paranoia about the West’s true intentions towards him and his powerbase, potentially making it even trickier to convince Russia to change course on Ukraine and end the fighting.

By revealing his personal views on who should or should not hold power in Russia, Mr Biden could in addition harden the opinion of Russian people against the United States, even among those who privately agree.

The image of the leader of one country publicly telling the people of another who should lead them is never a good one in the 21st century, regardless of how right she or he might be.