At NATO summit Biden makes geopolitical blunder by confusing Zelensky with Putin; Ukraine walks away with vital military support

Victory for Ukraine and a new public relations crisis for the White House, that's how one can sum up the last day of the annual NATO summit in Washington D.C., which highlighted two men above all else: Presidents Joe Biden and Volodymir Zelensky.

The former, who has been under intense scrutiny after his terrible showing at the presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, had been doing a relatively good job of hosting the alliance's annual summit...until today. In a moment of embarrassment, Biden inexplicably mistook Ukrainian President Zelenski for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The president realized seconds later his mistake, but could not backpedal his extraordinary mistake before the astonished gaze of the leaders of the NATO countries.

"And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," Biden said, before beginning to leave the podium.

After realizing his mistake, Biden spoke again and corrected, albeit belatedly: "He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin. We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President."

Zelensky, trying to help Biden, appeared on stage, shook the U.S. president's hand and said, "I'm better."

"You are a hell of a lot better," Biden zinged.

Biden's gaffe, which is being singled out as a geopolitical blunder of historic caliber, came just ahead of a high-stakes press conference to be held by the president, whose public performance is being closely evaluated by allies, skeptics, critics, assorted Democratic lawmakers, billionaire donors and mainstream media reporters. All while his candidacy hangs in the balance.

Despite being mistaken for Putin, Zelensky leaves Washington happy

The Ukrainian president, although he was mistaken by the leader of the free world for the president of the country with whom he is at war, has reason to leave Washington happy.

Reviewing the Ukrainian success in NATO, first, the alliance agreed on a wording declaring that Ukraine is on an "irreversible" path to membership, also announced the intention to provide $43 billion in military assistance next year for the Zelensky's country, and, in addition, the allies began sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine while sending dozens of air defenses, including four Patriot missile systems.

In other words, Ukraine was the big winner of this annual summit.

In addition to military and economic aid, NATO allies also condemned Moscow's nuclear threats and called China the "decisive facilitator" in Russia's war against Ukraine. Words that are already causing a stir among Beijing's top leadership.

Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky's closest adviser, showed his satisfaction with what was achieved during the annual summit.

"We are satisfied with the result of the Washington summit. The language of the document is really strong. The alliance made real steps forward … The next stop is Ukraine needs to receive the invitation," Yermak said.

The world reacts to Biden's shocking failure

Britain's BBC, Le Monde in France, the U.S. mainstream media and basically the entire global press is devoting its front pages to Biden's failure during the annual NATO summit.

In the United States, the backlash is brutal, with major opinion leaders questioning Biden's physical and mental health as they await the impromptu press conference that, at press time, is still delayed.

"The question tonight is whether the President of the United States is mentally and physically capable of taking some questions from the press. This should be all the information you need to conclude that he should not be President of the United States," wrote host Ben Shapiro.

Meanwhile, some media outlets have already begun to publish hard-hitting articles against the president, such as Politico, which headlined: Biden introduced Zelenskyy. It didn’t go well: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin’".