U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Germany on Oct. 18 after an earlier trip was postponed due to Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, according to media reports published on Oct. 13.
Biden will meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his visit, according to the German publication Der Spiegel. The leaders are expected to discuss the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Biden 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. President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to present his victory plan during the meeting.
The visit was delayed and the summit postponed in order for Biden to oversee the emergency response to Hurricane Milton.
The Germany trip, originally planned as a formal state visit with a banquet and formal events before a new U.S. president is elected in November, has now been pared down to primarily work events, according to Der Spiegel.
The reduced agenda likely spells further delays for the Ramstein summit, where defense partners are expected to discuss additional aid to Ukraine. No new date for the summit has yet been announced.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group is the U.S.-led group consisting of over 50 countries, including all 32 NATO members, that convenes at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The last Ramstein meeting on Sept. 6 was the group's 24th gathering since its establishment in April 2022.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
