US, Germany, UK, France vow no let-up in support for Ukraine
BERLIN
U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain pledged Friday to keep up support for Ukraine and condemned "Russia's continued war of aggression".
After meeting in Berlin, the four leaders in a joint statement "reiterated their resolve to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to secure a just and lasting peace".
Biden, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they had "discussed their plans to provide Ukraine with additional security, economic and humanitarian assistance".
The leaders met on the day Biden made his farewell visit to Germany just weeks before U.S. election.
As Ukraine faces a third winter at war amid battlefield losses in the east, Kyiv and its allies fear a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House that would likely mean reduced U.S. military support.
"We're headed into a very difficult winter. We cannot let up," Biden said.
In another worrying development for Ukraine, North Korea has decided to send a "large-scale" troop deployment to support Moscow's war, according to Seoul's spy agency. It said 1,500 special forces were already in eastern Russia undergoing training.
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.
Washington and London have also rejected Ukrainian requests for clearance to use donated long-range weapons against targets inside Russia. Berlin has also refused to send its own long-range Taurus missile system.
"We are supporting Ukraine as powerfully as we can," Scholz said. "And at the same time we are making sure that NATO does not become a party to the war, so that this war does not turn into an even bigger catastrophe."
Call for Gaza truce
The United States has been by far the biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in 2022. Germany is the next biggest military backer.
Paris and London were among foreign capitals to voice concern Friday over the report of North Korean troops readying to back the Russian war effort.
"The increase in cross-cooperation and military support from North Korea to the Russian war effort in Ukraine is very worrying," a French foreign ministry spokesman said.
Speaking at the British embassy in Berlin, Starmer said about the North Korea troops report that "if this is true then to me it looks more an act of desperation than anything else".
The other issue in focus was the Middle East conflict, where Biden and others voiced hope for new momentum toward a Gaza ceasefire after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Biden said the death of Sinwar, considered the architect of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, was a "moment of justice".
The U.S. president said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas".
The four leaders in their joint statement said they agreed on "the immediate necessity to bring the hostages home to their families, for ending the war in Gaza, and ensure humanitarian aid reaches civilians".
US election looms
Biden earlier 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".
Biden's visit came as the U.S. presidential race heats up ahead of the November 5 election and allies are nervously eyeing a possible Trump victory over Kamala Harris.
Trump, who berated NATO allies when president, has opposed the level of U.S. military support for Ukraine and would be expected to soften U.S. criticism of Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Steinmeier said that just a few years ago in the United States-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 trans-Atlantic alliance literally overnight," Steinmeier said, before awarding Biden the Grand Cross special class of the Order of Merit.
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.
He cancelled that trip to coordinate the response to Hurricane Milton, but was nonetheless at pains to make his valedictory Germany trip, albeit with a stripped-down programme squeezed into a one-day visit.