Biden heads to Germany for talks on Ukraine, Middle East

By Jeff Mason and Sarah Marsh

WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden takes off for Berlin on Thursday for a rapid visit to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine with the leaders of Germany, France and Britain as Kyiv urges its western allies to take urgent steps to end the fighting.

The rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East is also expected to be high on the agenda in talks between the leaders as diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have stalled.

Biden had originally been scheduled 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 that would have been the first in nearly 40 years.

He canceled that trip to focus on dealing with the onslaught of and fallout from Hurricane Milton, but is making up for it with the quick sojourn this week. 

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. 

"Germany and the United States are the biggest supporters of Ukraine in defence of its sovereignty and integrity and its democracy. And we will continue to be so," Scholz told the German parliament on Wednesday.

"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."

Zelenskiy says his plan, which would include an unconditional invite for Ukraine to join NATO now, aims to force the Kremlin to negotiate in good faith.

The senior U.S. official said there was a discussion among NATO allies about offering Ukraine an invitation to join but there was not a consensus at this time to offer one. He noted the alliance had affirmed in July that Ukraine was on an "irreversible path" to membership. "The question is about the tactics of ... how to encourage that path," he said. 

Biden's trip also comes amid fears of a wider escalation of the fighting in the Middle East into a full-scale conflict between Israel and Iran. That issue would also be discussed at the meeting, the U.S. official said.

The United States and Germany are close allies of Israel, which has become increasingly isolated over its military campaign in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza that local authorities say has killed more than 42,000 people.

"We will not accept Iran attacking Israel with missiles," Scholz said on Wednesday. "That must not happen. There must be no further destabilisation of the region. And Iran is playing with fire. That must stop." 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Chris Reese)