President Joe Biden arrives in Berlin on a brief visit to discuss Ukraine and Middle East aggression
Berlin: As Kyiv begs its Western friends to act immediately to put a stop to the war, President Joe Biden landed in Berlin on Thursday, October 17, for a brief visit to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the leaders of Germany, France, and Britain.
The Biden administration anticipates that the leaders’ discussions will focus heavily on the Middle East conflict since Israel’s execution of Hamas senior Yahya Sinwar may facilitate the implementation of a truce in Gaza.
During a planned three-day official visit to Ukraine last week—the first in over 40 years—Biden was initially expected to call a larger gathering of the country’s military allies at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
He postponed that trip in order to concentrate on dealing with Hurricane Milton, but he is making up for it this week with a brief visit. On board Air Force One, national security advisor Jake Sullivan informed reporters that the Ramstein summit will take place remotely in November.
The president arrived in Berlin late on Thursday. Before his scheduled meeting with the leaders of Germany, France, and Britain, he will have bilateral discussions with the president and chancellor of Germany on Friday morning.
Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, and Joe Biden have a good working connection, and Biden’s travel is partly considered as an homage to that bond before Biden leaves office in January.
As Moscow’s soldiers advance in the east and a grim winter of power outages approaches, his journey follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tour of western cities to unveil his “victory plan” to stop Russia’s more than two and a half-year invasion.
“The meeting with European leaders will cover topics such as the state of affairs on the battlefield in Ukraine, the course of the war, and the ways in which allies can best support Ukraine,” a senior US administration official said before the trip.
The US presidential election next month raises even more concerns about Ukraine since it is unclear how the Democratic contender, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, will manage the conflict.
“The two countries that stand up for Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and integrity the most are Germany and the United States. And we will stay that way,” Scholz said on Wednesday before the German parliament.
“But this is a time when, in addition to our clear support for Ukraine, we must also do everything we can to find out how we can ensure that this war does not go on forever, that it does not continue to kill an unbelievable amount of women and men.”
Zelenskyy claims that his proposal, which would include an open invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, is intended to compel the Kremlin to engage in sincere negotiations.
According to the senior US source, there was debate among NATO partners over extending an invitation to Ukraine to join, but no agreement was reached to do so. He emphasized that Ukraine was on an “irreversible path” to membership, as confirmed by the alliance in July. “The question is about the tactics of… how to encourage that path,” he said.
Biden’s visit also coincides with concerns that Israel and Iran may go to war with one another as a result of the warfare in the Middle East intensifying. The US official said that they will also be talking about the matter during the meeting.
Israel, which has become more isolated due to its military assault in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which local officials claim has claimed the lives of over 42,000 people, is closely allied with both the United States and Germany.
On Wednesday, Scholz said, “We will not accept Iran attacking Israel with missiles.” “That can’t take place. The area cannot continue to become more unstable. Iran is also taking a risk. That has to end.”
