BERLIN, 18 Oct (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Joe Biden said it\u2019s important for Ukraine\u2019s Western allies to \u201csustain our resolve\u201d in supporting the country as he held meetings Friday with European partners, with the upcoming U.S. presidential election casting a long shadow over his visit to Germany.<\/p>\n
Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Ukraine\u2019s second-biggest military supplier after the U.S. They were joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for discussions that were also addressing the conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
With the election just weeks away and the race extremely tight, there are worries that a victory for Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, could upset the relationships that Biden is hoping to pass on to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.<\/p>\n
Trump has an appetite for imposing trade tariffs on key U.S. security partners. He has expressed indifference to the security of Ukraine, refusing to say during a presidential debate if he wants the U.S. ally to win its war against Russia. He\u2019s voiced doubts about coming to the defense of NATO members if they come under attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must \u2014 we must \u2014 sustain our resolve, our effort and our support,\u201d Biden said. \u201cAnd I know the cost is heavy. Make no mistake, it pales in comparison to the cost of living in the world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scholz said that \u201cwe will stand beside Ukraine as long as it is necessary,\u201d pointing to a planned $50 billion international loan package funded by interest on profits from frozen Russian assets.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOur position is clear: We are supporting Ukraine as strongly as possible,\u201d he added. \u201cAt the same time, we are taking care that NATO does not become a party to the war so that this war doesn\u2019t culminate in an even bigger catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scholz has indicated that he\u2019s skeptical about aspects of a \u201cvictory plan\u201d drawn up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and says he will stand by his refusal to supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Kyiv.<\/p>\n
Biden didn\u2019t want his term to end without visiting Berlin, after having been to other key allies such as Japan, South Korea, France, India, the U.K., Poland and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The chancellor thanked Biden for the two leaders\u2019 \u201cextraordinarily close\u201d cooperation.<\/p>\n
Concerns about what might come next were reflected as Biden received the highest class of Germany\u2019s Order of Merit, which was also bestowed on former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in recognition of his support for German reunification.<\/p>\n
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the friendship with the U.S. is \u201cand will always be existentially important\u201d for Germany, but there have always been \u201ctimes of proximity and greater distance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven recently, just a handful of years ago, the distance had grown so wide that we almost lost each other,\u201d Steinmeier said, in an reference to tense relations during Trump\u2019s earlier presidency. He said Biden \u201crestored Europe\u2019s hope in the trans-Atlantic alliance literally overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the months to come, I hope that Europeans remember: America is indispensable for us,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd I hope that Americans remember: Your allies are indispensable for you. We are more than just \u2018other countries\u2019 in the world \u2014 we are partners, we are friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling the \u201cwide sweep of history\u201d he has seen in his 81 years, Biden said, \u201cwe should never underestimate the power of democracy, never underestimate the value of alliances.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he met Scholz, Biden said he was \u201cgrateful for Germany\u2019s cooperation in holding Iran accountable for destabilizing policies, including providing missiles and drones to Russia to use against Ukraine.\u201d He pointed to new European sanctions against Iran\u2019s leading airlines and said that \u201cthis coordination is going to have to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden reiterated his call for Israel to pursue peace after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar \u2014 which he described as \u201ca moment of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the prime minister of Israel yesterday, let\u2019s also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump has said his approach will help the U.S. economy and prevent foreign countries from taking advantage of the United States. He maintains that if he were still president, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas would never have attacked Israel in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East, and prevent World War III,\u201d he said at a recent rally in Georgia.<\/p>\n
Harris, for her part, has voiced strong backing for Ukraine and tracks with Biden on support for Israel, while placing particular emphasis on the need to relieve the suffering of Palestinian civilians whose lives have been upended by the Hamas-Israel war.<\/p>\n
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BERLIN, 18 Oct (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Joe Biden said it\u2019s important for Ukraine\u2019s Western allies to \u201csustain our resolve\u201d in supporting the country as he held meetings Friday with European partners, with the upcoming U.S. presidential election casting a long shadow over his visit to Germany. Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Ukraine\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-250665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}