White House: Lindsey Graham's call for Putin's assassination 'is not the position' of the US government

During the Friday press conference, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House opposes a controversial proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham suggesting that someone should assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In regards to Graham's widely-rejected statement, Psaki was prompted to give the White House's take at the end-of-the-week press briefing, where she distanced President Joe Biden and the administration from the senator's suggestion.

"That is not the position of the United States government, and not anything you'd hear coming from the mouth of anybody working in this administration," she said.

Psaki reiterated the Biden administration's position on the issue, emphasizing that the president believes "there continues to be a diplomatic path forward."

"What Lindsay Graham did suggest is that there's no peaceful resolution here while Vladimir Putin is still in power in Russia. Does the president share that view?" a reporter further questioned Psaki in the White House briefing room.

Psaki responded that diplomacy "is the path forward that will help resolve what we're seeing on the ground," noting that Putin "has the ability to de-escalate."

She pivoted to discuss specific options that US is hoping for as an exit out of the Ukraine-Russia conflict: "We have left the door open for months now to be engaged through de-escalation, if de-escalation occurs. Obviously, humanitarian corridors, a cease-fire, those would all be steps that would be welcomed."

"But no, we are not advocating for killing the leader of a foreign country, or regime change. That is not the position of the United States," she declared.