WATCH | Biden commits another gaffe, calls Zelensky 'Vladimir' at NATO Summit

Gaffe-prone US President Joe Biden invited social media scrutiny yet again after he mistakenly referred to his Ukrainian counterpart as “Vladimir” during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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"Vladimir and I...I shouldn't be so familiar," said Biden during a press conference. However, Biden quickly realised his mistake and corrected himself in the following sentence.

"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," said Biden.

Not Biden's first gaffe

This is not the first instance when Biden has committed such an error. Last month, a confused Biden mistook Iraq for Ukraine twice in under 12 hours.

"Putin is clearly losing the war in Iraq," said Biden during one of his correspondence with the reporters in the White House.

Similarly, during his State of the Union address last year, Biden referred to "Ukrainians" as "Iranians".

"Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people," Biden said.

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Prior to attending the NATO Summit, Biden travelled to the UK where he met King Charles III for the first time since the latter's coronation. During the meeting outside Windsor Castle, Biden appeared dazed as he walked in front of the monarch, considered a breach of protocol. Later, he started talking at length with one of the soldiers much to the agitation of King Charles III.

Despite the king's insistence, Biden continued speaking to the guard. It was only after a few moments that Biden took the monarch's cue and decided to follow him, away from the lineup of soldiers.

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Biden refuses NATO membership for Ukraine

In an interview with CNN, Biden seemingly confirmed that Ukraine will not receive NATO membership unless the war with Russia was over.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” said Biden.

“For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”

The communique released by NATO heads of state and governments participating in the meetingstated that Ukraine would only join the alliance "when allies agree and conditions are met".

(With inputs from agencies)

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