President Joe Biden repeatedly confused the countries of Syria and Libya during a press conference at the G7 summit.

Ahead of his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, due to take place in Geneva on Wednesday, June 16, Biden spoke about how the US and Russia could provide aid to Libya, a suggestion that caused some confusion among those in attendance.

Addressing members of the press in Cornwall, England, on Sunday, June 13, 78-year-old Biden proceeded to mistakenly refer to Syria as Libya two further times, sparking concern among many of those following the conference online.

President Biden said:

We can work together with Russia, for example, in Libya. We should open the passes to be able to go through, provide food assistance and economic assistance, vital assistance to a population that’s in real trouble.

Russia has engaged in activities which we believe are contrary to international norms, but they have also bitten off some real problems they’re going to have trouble chewing on.

He continued: ‘For example, the rebuilding of Syria, of Libya, they’re there, and as long as they’re there without the ability to bring about some order in the region, and you can’t do that very well without providing for the basic economic needs of people.

‘I’m hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people, for example, in Libya.’

Many people quickly twigged the president had confused the two countries during his speech, and the mix-up was later confirmed by his White House aides.

Although both Syria and Libya are war-torn countries with some geopolitical similarities, the situation in each country is actually quite different, especially considering that Biden was here making reference to Russia.

While Russia is allied to the Syrian regime, Moscow supports the Libya National Army in Libya, eastern separatists who are attempting to overthrow Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s UN-backed government.

The comments were made as Biden discussed how Russia and the US might work together going forward at a time of strained relations between Moscow and Washington.

The meeting between Biden and Putin is expected to be tense, with Biden having previously referred to the Russian president as ‘a killer’.

During a recent interview with NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Putin was quizzed about whether or not this description was accurate. In response, he simply laughed and refused to deny the claim.