Biden mistakenly calls Ukraine's Zelenskyy 'President Putin' at Nato summit

Biden was speaking in Washington at the end of Nato's three-day summit in the US capital

US President Joe Biden mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "President Putin" on Thursday night.

Speaking in front of Nato leaders, he said: "Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentleman, President Putin."

The room, and Zelenskyy, gasped at Biden’s gaffe, which the US president quickly sought to clean up.

“President Putin? You’re going to beat President Putin,” Biden said to Zelenskyy at the event to mark the unveiling of an agreement called the Ukraine Compact. “I’m so focused on beating Putin; we got to worry about it,” Biden explained.

Zelenskyy joked: “I’m better” than Putin.

Biden agreed. “You’re a hell of a lot better.”

Watch some of Joe Biden's most eye-catching slip-ups in front of a microphone

President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Earlier this week, at least 46 people - including 33 in Kyiv - were killed across Ukraine in a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes, including on a children's hospital.

Later in a stumbling press conference with journalists, when asked about his apparent gaffe he appeared to mix up Vice President Kamala Harris with Donald Trump.

Asked about whether Vice President Harris would be fit to step up to his role, President Biden responded, "I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President, unless I thought she was qualified to be President".

Biden's slip-ups follow mounting pressure on the US President to step aside after increased concerns around his age and health.

Biden, who is 81 years old, has faced calls from some Democrats to withdraw from November's US presidential election, owing to his head-to-head debate performance against Donald Trump last month.

Legislators and fundraisers including Hollywood actor George Clooney have since joined calls for Biden to step aside.

But in a letter to congressional democrats, Biden dismissed calls for him to drop out.

Biden wrote: “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end.”

He stressed that the party has “one job,” which is to defeat Trump in November.

“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the General Election,” Biden added.

“Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Trump.”

At a press conference that followed, Sir Keir Starmer was questioned about Biden’s mental capacity.

He responded: “I would urge everyone to look at the substance of what’s been achieved over these two days.

“We have a bigger Nato, more countries, we have a stronger Nato, we have a real sense of resolve. The third of the sessions, the council sessions, was the session with President Zelensky there in relation to Ukraine.

“It was a session that he described as a success because of the package coming out of it, and President Biden led through all of that. That is an incredible achievement of this council.”

“We close this council with renewed confidence and resolve to meet the challenge of Russian aggression. That is the outcome we all hoped we would get to and President Biden led us through that.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also backed the US president, saying: "Slips of tongue happen, and if you always monitor everyone, you will find enough of them."

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