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Biden touts Switzerland -- woops, Sweden -- in NATO expansion

US President Joe Biden has long been known for his verbal gaffes but quickly corrected himself when referring to Switzerland, not Sweden, joining NATO. ©AFP

Madrid (AFP) - NATO's latest expansion momentarily got really interesting with even Switzerland about to join -- at least for a second in a Joe Biden verbal slip Thursday.

At a press conference marking the end of the NATO summit in Madrid, the US president recounted the behind-the-scenes talks putting militarily non-aligned Finland and Sweden on track to join the Western alliance in a major rebuff to Russia.

Except he misspoke, saying there was a plan to call the leader of famously neutral Switzerland about joining.

Quickly realizing his stumble, Biden said: "Switzerland, my goodness."

"I'm getting really anxious here about expanding NATO," he joked, before adding for the record: "Sweden."

Biden, 79, has long been known for his verbal gaffes during a political career spanning half a century.

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