This week's planned meeting of the heads of state of Ukraine’s backers in Germany has been canceled after US President Joe Biden announced he will not attend, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing an e-mail sent by the US public affairs office at Ramstein Air Base. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) also reported the development, citing anonymous NATO sources.
The gathering of the so-called Ramstein group at the eponymous US military base was supposed to feature addresses by Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
Following the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, more than 50 countries, including most NATO member states, established the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The participants’ defense ministers have been meeting regularly at Ramstein Air Base to discuss Kiev’s arms needs and organize deliveries.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the “October 12, 2024 event is postponed,” with “announcements about future Ukraine Defense Contact Group meetings... forthcoming.”
Earlier that same day, RFE/RL had reported that a “high-level meeting of the Ramstein group of Ukraine arms donors has been canceled.” The media outlet attributed the development to President Biden’s decision to scrap his planned trip to Germany.
In a statement on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced that “given the projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton, President Biden is postponing his upcoming trip to Germany.”
The US president later explained that “I just don’t think I can be out of the country at this time,” adding that he hoped to reschedule the trip “and all the conferences I said I’d participate in.”
Biden’s visit was originally scheduled for October 10-13, and would have been the first state visit by a sitting US president to Germany in nearly 40 years.
Later on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “was going to accompany the President and now is returning home” since Biden has called off his trip to Germany.
Weather forecasters have warned that Hurricane Milton could end up being the worst natural disaster to hit the state of Florida in a century. According to the National Hurricane Center, Milton is expected to make landfall late on Wednesday.
The state is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which battered the southern US two weeks ago, causing widespread destruction and leaving at least 230 dead.