Washington DCUS President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq” rather than Ukraine in a verbal gaffe on Wednesday. “Vladimir Putin is clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home. And he’s become a kind of pariah around the world. And it’s not just NATO; it’s not just the European Union. It’s Japan is. It’s, it’s, you know, it’s 40 nations,” Biden said during a press conference.
Biden said this during a brief conversation with reporters before leaving the White House on a trip to Chicago. Biden was asked whether Vladimir Putin had been weakened by a brief uprising led by a Russian mercenary chief whose forces were fighting against Ukraine.
This was the second lapse in 24 hours. On Tuesday night, President Biden corrected himself at a campaign fundraising event – referring to China when he meant India. “You’ve probably seen my new best friend – the prime minister of a small country that’s now the biggest in the world, China – I mean, sorry, India. India isn’t looking for a lasting alliance, but they looking for something in the area to — hedge against,” he said.
Recently, the US Department of Defense announced an additional security assistance package of up to US$500 million to Ukraine to meet its “critical security and defense needs”. The security package includes significant capabilities to support Ukraine’s counter-offensive operations in its ongoing conflict with Russia and bolster its air defenses.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States has condemned all of Moscow’s actions and shown strong support for Ukraine and its people. A week earlier, Blinken also noted the US commitment to work with the private sector to enable the modernization and revitalization of Ukraine.
At least four people, including a child, were killed and several others were injured when a Russian missile struck a bustling center of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, CNN quoted local officials as saying.
According to Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the military administration of the Donetsk region, the attacks took place at around 7:30 pm local time on Tuesday. “We are now working to establish the number of injured and possibly dead in the city. This is the city centre. These were public eateries full of civilians,” he added.