Dublin [Ireland]: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has defended US President Joe Biden after being referred to as “President Putin” by him, calling it “a mistake,” according to CNN.
When presenting Zelenskyy at a NATO event on Thursday, the US president unintentionally referred to him as “President Putin” until correcting himself moments later.
While the US president, who is under increasing pressure to prove his fitness to serve another term in office, downplayed the error during a high-stakes news conference later that day, the episode drew international scrutiny.
The Russian state media used Biden’s appearance to further criticise the NATO alliance, claiming it turned the occasion into “a farce.”
When asked by the press at Ireland’s Shannon Airport on Saturday about his reaction to the incident, Zelenskyy shrugged and said that “It was a mistake,” reported CNN.
“I think United States gave a lot of support for Ukrainians. We can forget some mistakes, I think so,” he said.
In his remarks at a recent event on the Ukraine Conflict, Biden said, “Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
He quickly corrected himself and said, “He’s going to beat President Putin–President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it.”
After referring to Zelenskyy as Putin, Biden confused Vice President Kamala Harris and former US President Donald Trump.
When asked whether he had concerns about Harris’ ability to beat Donald Trump if he decided not to run again, Biden responded, “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President. But, I think she’s not qualified to be President.”
Biden’s verbal slip ups come at a time when he is under intense scrutiny over his advanced age. US President Joe Biden has vowed he will be “running this race to end “of the November election, despite private calls from Democrats to drop out.
The United States is giving Ukraine critical military help in its fight against Russia. On Wednesday, the Biden administration unveiled a new USD 2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine, as well as an extra USD 2.2 billion in arms purchases from US manufacturers under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which provides Kyiv with long-term support.
Weeks earlier, the US and Ukraine inked a bilateral security treaty that commits the US to continuing to train Ukraine’s armed forces for the next ten years, as well as providing more arms assistance and information.
At the time, Zelensky hailed the security pact as “a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”