Biden to meet UK, German, French leaders in Berlin this week, CNN reports
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet the leaders of Germany, France, and the U.K. in Berlin later this week after his earlier visit was postponed due to Hurricane Milton, CNN reported on Oct. 16, citing three unnamed Western officials.
Berlin has confirmed that Biden would visit Germany at the end of the week. The trip will reportedly take place on Oct. 18.
The U.S., the U.K., Germany, and France are Ukraine's leading arms suppliers and play a crucial role in supporting Kyiv's resistance against Russian aggression. It remains unclear whether the upcoming meeting of the Western leaders will lead to major strategic decisions.
The U.S. president was supposed to convene a leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein summit, in Germany on Oct. 12, where Ukraine's victory plan was to be presented. No new date for the summit was set.
Instead, President Volodymyr Zelensky went on a European tour to present his plan to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, hoping to rally support among Western allies.
Ukraine's president pitched the plan to Biden while visiting the U.S. in late September.
Ukrainian officials have already revealed certain parts of the plan, namely those related to Western military and political support for Kyiv's struggle against Russia's full-scale invasion.
Zelensky is pushing for renewed military and financial support from Europe amid concerns that backing could weaken if former U.S. President Donald Trump wins next month's election.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to make gains along Ukraine's eastern front and target critical energy infrastructure as the winter looms.
Following Ukraine's withdrawal from Vuhledar, Russian forces have been focusing their efforts against the Donetsk Oblast towns of Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Kurakhove, where outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian soldiers are slowly losing ground under Russian pressure.
Martin Fornusek
