U.S. President Joe Biden is set to travel to Berlin on Thursday for a brief visit to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the leaders of Germany, France, and Britain.
At the same time, Kyiv is urging its western allies to take urgent steps to end the fighting.
The rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East is also expected to be a key topic of discussion among the leaders, as diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have hit a roadblock.
Originally, Biden had planned to convene a broader meeting of Ukraine’s military supporters at the U.S.
Ramstein airbase in Germany last week during a planned three-day state visit to the country, which would have been the first in nearly 40 years.
However, he canceled that trip to focus on dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. He is now making up for it with this quick visit.
The president now will land late on Thursday in Berlin and hold bilateral talks on Friday morning with Germany’s president and chancellor, before a planned meeting with the so-called European quad in the afternoon.
Biden has had a close working relationship with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the trip is seen in part as a nod to that partnership before the president leaves office in January.
His trip comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy toured western capitals to present his “victory plan” to end Russia’s more than 2-1/2-year-old invasion as Moscow’s forces advance in the east and a bleak winter of power cuts looms.
“The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the trajectory of the war, how allies can best support Ukraine will be a subject of conversation,” a senior U.S. administration official said before the trip about the meeting with European leaders.
Next month’s U.S. presidential election is adding to the sense of urgency about Ukraine given uncertainty about how both presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, would handle the war.
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