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President Biden on Wednesday referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “Vladimir,” apparently confusing him for the Russian leader and US and Ukrainian adversary. The 80-year-old president’s latest gaffe came during his remarks at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, one day after Zelensky bristled at Ukraine not being extended an invitation to join the North Atlantic alliance.
“Vladimir and I … I shouldn’t be so familiar,” Biden said during a press conference in the Lithuanian capital, appearing to catch himself seconds after the blunder. “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.,” he corrected himself as he stood feet from the Ukrainian leader.
The official White House transcript, which is usually scrupulous about picking up Biden’s misstatements, didn’t do so this time, and incorrectly notes that the commander-in-chief said, “Volodymyr.” “Volodymyr” and “Vladimir” are different variants of the same name.
They both mean, “ruler of the world,” or “ruler of peace,” however, “Volodymyr” is the more widely used version of the name in Ukraine. Biden has previously made numerous misstatements related to the war-torn former Soviet state.
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