Biden fumbles countries at G7, mistaking Libya for Syria

President Biden on Sunday committed a gaffe during a press conference at the G-7 summit, three times referring to Libya when aides said he meant to refer to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

At one point, Biden mentioned the potential of working with Russia in providing humanitarian aid to "Libya," which he called a "population that's in real trouble."

Aides said afterwards he actually was referring to civil-war-torn Syria, where Russia has been militarily involved.

The American president continued to mix up the two countries as the press conference went on.

"As long as they're there without the ability to bring about some order in the region, you can't do that very well without providing for the basic economic needs of people," he said. "So, I'm hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people in, for example, in Libya."

The gaffes occurred three days before Biden's high-stakes meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.