Biden referred to Zelensky as “Vladimir” in an apparent gaffe, confusing the Ukraine leader with Russian adversary Vladimir Putin.
Biden made the latest gaffe during his remarks at the annual NATO summit in Lithuania a day after Zelensky criticized NATO’s “uncertainty” and “weakness” over his country’s possible membership as the alliance’s leaders met in Vilnius, saying this encouraged Russian aggression.
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“Vladimir and I … I shouldn’t be so familiar,” Biden said during a press conference in Vilnius, appearing to catch himself immediately after the blunder.
🚨🌎 Biden calls ‘Zelensky’ – VLADIMIR 🤡🚨
Simply unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/Iqo2omXIrj
— Concerned Citizen (@cotupacs) July 12, 2023
“Mr Zelensky and I talked about the kind of guarantees we could make in the meantime when I was in Ukraine and when we met in other places,” Biden said as he corrected himself.
Biden’s speech was shared on social media, where netizens pointed out the mistake.
A Twitter user called it “simply unbelievable” and posted the video. “This old man must just take a rest now,” another user tweeted in response.
However, others noted that the similarity between Volodymyr and Vladimir was an easy mistake.
According to reports, ‘Volodymyr’ and ‘Vladimir’ are different variants of the same name. The two words mean ‘ruler of the world’ or ‘ruler of peace’; however, ‘Volodymyr’ is more widely used in Ukraine.
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The gaffe comes just two days after Joe Biden caused a stir on Monday when he appeared to breach royal protocol by touching King Charles III during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.
President Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “Vladimir” on Wednesday, apparently confusing him with Russian leader and US and Ukrainian adversary Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/wCyLksGsGL
— Natalie Jean Beisner (@NJBeisner) July 13, 2023
When Biden’s car arrived at the Caste, King Charles greeted him with a handshake. However, the US President raised eyebrows by placing his hand on the monarch’s elbow as the two men shook hands and later put his hands on the monarch’s back. According to the protocol, the monarch is generally not to be touched.
