JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden flew to Berlin on Thursday for a short visit to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine with German, French and British leaders.
The rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East is also expected to be a major agenda in talks between the leaders as diplomatic efforts to stop fighting have stalled.
President Biden was originally scheduled to hold a wider meeting with Ukrainian military supporters at US Ramstein airbase in Germany last week, during a planned three-day state visit to the country, becoming the first in nearly 40 years.
He canceled the trip to focus on dealing with the attacks and impacts of Hurricane Milton, but made up for it with a brief visit this week.
President Biden is scheduled to land on Thursday evening in Berlin local time, holding bilateral talks on Friday morning with the German president and chancellor, before a planned meeting with what is referred to as a European quartet in the afternoon.
President Biden has close employment with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This trip was seen as a tribute to the partnership before the president left office in January.
"The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the trajectory of war, how allies can support Ukraine as well as possible will be the subject of discussion," a senior US government official said before a trip on a meeting with European leaders.
The trip this time comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the capital of western countries to deliver his " winning plans" to end the Russian invasion that has lasted more than two and a half years, as Moscow forces move forward in the east and a gloomy winter with power outages already in sight.
"Germany and the United States are Ukraine's biggest supporters in defending its sovereignty and integrity as well as its democracy. And we will continue to do so," Chancellor Scholz told the German Parliament on Wednesday.
"But this is a time when, apart from our clear support for Ukraine, we also have to do everything we can to find out how we can ensure that this war doesn't last forever, that this war doesn't keep killing so many women and men."
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President Biden's visit also comes amid concerns over the escalation of the wider fighting in the Middle East into a full-scale conflict between Israel and Iran. The matter will also be discussed at the meeting, the US official said.
"We will not accept Iran attacking Israel with missiles," Chancellor Scholz said yesterday.
"That should not happen. There should be no further destabilization in the region. And Iran is playing with fire. It must be stopped," he said.
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