By Jeff Mason, Jarrett Renshaw and Sabine Siebold
WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden canceled his upcoming trip to Germany and Angola on Tuesday in a blow to plans for the highest level meeting ever of the Ramstein group of Ukraine arms donors that aimed to underscore unwavering support for Kyiv.
The Ramstein group was set to meet at the highest level on the sidelines of Biden's Oct. 10-13 state visit to Germany, which would have been the first U.S. state visit in nearly 40 years.
But the White House said Biden was postponing his trip to both Germany and Angola to handle preparations for Hurricane Milton and relief efforts after Hurricane Helene which last month killed more than 200 people.
It added that it was still working on how the Ramstein event would work out, with Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz talking later on Tuesday.
"I just don't think I can be out of the country at this time," Biden said, adding that he hoped to reschedule the trip "and all the conferences I said I'd participate in".
The administration's response to Hurricane Helene, the deadliest named storm to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has already become a point of contention in a tight race ahead of November's presidential election.
Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats' presidential nominee, have come under fire from Republican challenger and former President Donald Trump for not immediately surveying damage on the ground - though they made clear they didn't want to cause a distraction.
Scholz said he would have made the same decision if storms were bearing down on Germany but hoped to reschedule the state visit which would have been a "very important meeting".
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had been underscoring for weeks the importance of the Ramstein meeting for Ukraine and the future course of the war. In his nightly video address on Tuesday, Zelenskiy made no mention of the meeting or Biden's announcement that he would not attend.
RAMSTEIN OVER?
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Washington gathered like-minded nations at the U.S. air base in Ramstein, southwestern Germany, establishing a group of some 50 nations whose defence ministers meet regularly to match Kyiv's arms requests with pledges of donors.
Saturday's meeting - the first at the level of leaders - had been scheduled to open with public remarks by Biden, Zelenskiy Scholz, according to a German official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity before the White House announced the postponement of Biden's trip.
French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish President Andrzej Duda were also scheduled to attend.
"Given the trip was pulled down today, we're still working through exactly how the Ramstein engagement may play out. Our commitment to Ukraine was a big piece of this, and that is unwavering," Emilie Simons, a White House spokesperson, told reporters on Air Force One.
Germany had expected some 20 leaders to travel to Ramstein where Zelenskiy was set to present his "victory plan" which he describes as clear, specific steps for a just end to the war.
A U.S. official however has characterized the plan as a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles.
The German official reiterated Scholz's readiness for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, provided that they offer a prospect for progress on the way to a just and sustainable peace, but warned Russia to not interpret this as weakness.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Jarrett Renshaw, Gabriella Borter and Katharine Jackson in Washington; additional reporting by Alan Charlish and Ron PopeskiEditing by Miranda Murray, Christina Fincher and Ros Russell)
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