Volodymyr Zelenskyy has brushed off an embarrassing mix-up that saw U.S. President Joe Biden confuse the Ukrainian leader with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“It was a mistake,” President Zelenskyy told journalists on arrival in Ireland on Saturday. “The United States gave a lot of support for Ukrainians — we can forget some mistakes.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said on Thursday when introducing Zelenskyy ahead of a speech at the NATO summit in Washington.
While the 81-year-old Democrat quickly corrected himself, the gaffe has fueled speculation about his fitness for office ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, with dozens of his own allies calling for Biden to step down in favor of a younger candidate. His rival, Republican challenger Donald Trump, has wasted no time mocking the error.
Meeting with Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris after landing in County Clare, Zelenskyy thanked Ireland “for hosting a lot of Ukrainian refugees — you were with us from the very beginning of the Russian invasion.”
According to the Guardian, the Ukrainian leader will travel to the U.K. next week to join allied counterparts at a meeting of the European Political Community on Thursday. Zelenskyy has been seeking to shore up support from Western nations amid a fierce Russian bombing campaign and ground offensive that has wrought havoc across his country — and reportedly marked the bloodiest period of the war for Moscow’s own troops.
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