President Joe Biden urged NATO allies to keep backing Ukraine in its war against Russia as he kicked off a farewell visit to Germany Friday just weeks before US elections.
As Ukraine faces a third winter at war and battlefield losses in the east, Kyiv and its allies fear a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House would mean reduced US military support.
Biden said that Western allies must “sustain our support … until Ukraine wins a just and sustainable peace”.
“We’re headed into a very difficult winter. We cannot let up.”
Biden was later set to hold talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “victory plan” to the European Union and NATO, but his allies have not agreed to his request for immediate NATO membership.
The United States has been by far the biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, followed by Germany.
“Our solidarity with Ukraine is unbroken,” Scholz said ahead of the Berlin talks, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin should “not speculate that our support will wane”.
Biden received a red-carpet welcome from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who awarded him Germany’s highest honour for championing bilateral and transatlantic ties.
The German head of state honoured 81-year-old Biden as “a beacon of democracy” who had shown unwavering support for NATO and Ukraine “in our most dangerous moment since the Cold War”.
– Gaza ‘day after’ –
Later Friday, Biden and the European leaders were expected to renew calls for a Gaza ceasefire after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
While still on Air Force One, Biden had hailed the death of Sinwar, whom Israel labelled the architect of the October 7 attack, as a “good day”, saying it removed a key obstacle to a Gaza truce and hostage deal.
Biden congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also said he wanted to “discuss the pathway” for securing the release of hostages and “ending this war once and for all”.
“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said.
Scholz, speaking in Brussels on Thursday, said “there is a proposal from President Biden and others as to what … a ceasefire could look like and we fully support that”.
– US election looms –
Biden’s visit comes as the campaign race heats up ahead of the November 5 election and as allies are nervously eyeing a potential Trump victory over Kamala Harris.
Trump, who during his last term berated NATO allies, has opposed the level of US military support for Ukraine and would be expected to soften US criticism of Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Steinmeier said that just a few years ago in the US-Germany relationship “the distance had grown so wide that we almost lost each other”.
“When you were elected president, you restored Europe’s hope in the transatlantic alliance literally overnight,” Steinmeier said, before awarding him the Grand Cross special class of the Order of Merit.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Steinmeier said, Putin “thought we would be weak. He thought we would be divided”.
“But the opposite was true: NATO was stronger and more united than ever -– and that is in no small part thanks to your leadership.”
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, said earlier Biden was seeking “to make our commitment to Ukraine sustainable and institutionalised for the long term”.
Biden was originally due in Germany last week for a four-day state visit that would have included a major Ukraine defence meeting with Zelensky.
After cancelling that trip to coordinate the response to Hurricane Milton, Biden was at pains to make his valedictory Germany trip nonetheless, with a stripped-down programme squeezed into a one-day visit.
Among the guests Biden met in Berlin was 102-year old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlaender, who grew up in Berlin, was interned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, emigrated to the US and returned to her hometown in 2010.
“I’m actually honoured to be in your presence,” an emotional Biden told her at the start of his speech.
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