US President Joe Biden called Germany his country's "closest and most important of allies" during a brief visit to Berlin on Friday, likely his final visit to the country as president.
He departed Berlin aboard Air Force One early on Friday evening, about 20 hours after arriving in the German capital.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, Biden met for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer focused on foreign policy matters, including Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
The leaders spoke for two and a half hours, but initially provided little detail about their conversations to the press. Biden said only that they were in complete agreement on the issues, while Starmer said the countries remain united on supporting Ukraine.
Ukraine's 'victory plan' discussed
In a statement following the meeting, the four leaders discussed plans to help Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's "victory plan."
They want to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to ensure a just and lasting peace based on international law.
Biden, Macron, Starmer and Scholz also discussed the need to end the war in Gaza and return the Israeli hostages to their families.
They reiterated their condemnation of Iran's attack on Israel, which they said contributed to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and agreed on efforts to hold Iran to account and avoid further escalation. They also said that efforts must undertaken for a diplomatic solution in Lebanon.
Praise for Scholz for supporting Ukraine
Earlier, in a joint appearance with Scholz outside the Chancellery, Biden praised the German leader for "meeting the moment" after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
"America and Germany are the two largest supporters of Ukraine in its fight for survival as a free and independent nation."
Scholz, in turn, credited Biden's leadership for bringing together the NATO alliance and strengthening support for Ukraine at critical moments.
"Your leadership is to thank that Putin's plan failed, that Ukraine was not overrun in just a few days, and instead through the bravery of its soldiers and the support of many countries ... has resisted Russian imperialism for more than two and a half years," Scholz said.
He said that Germany will "stand on the side of Ukraine as long as necessary."
Biden said Ukraine would need further support heading into a third winter of war, and while the cost is likely to be significant to Western allies, "it pales in comparison to the cost of living in a world where aggression prevails, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can."
Biden further applauded Germany's support for Israel since the October 7 attacks.
Situation in the Middle East also addressed
Israel's killing of Yehya al-Sinwar, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, was a "moment of justice," Biden stated.
"He had the blood of Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands," Biden said of al-Sinwar.
Scholz said that al-Sinwar's death "will hopefully open up the concrete prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza and an agreement to release the Hamas hostages."
Starmer said the international community must "make the most of this
moment" in pushing for an end to the Middle East conflict, saying the killing ofal-Sinwar offered an "opportunity" to step up ceasefire talks that have so far failed to produce a breakthrough, the British news agency PA reported.
Biden honoured by Germany
Earlier on Friday, Biden was awarded Germany's highest honour, the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a ceremony in Berlin.
Steinmeier told Biden that Germany was bestowing the award, a special class reserved for heads of state, for his "decades-long dedication to the trans-Atlantic alliance," his "outstanding political leadership in Europe's most dangerous moment" and his "lasting moral example of service, sincerity and decency."
Steinmeier also described Biden as "a beacon of democracy" at a time when political extremism has placed it under threat.
Biden is only the second US president to receive the award, after George HW Bush, who was president during the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and helped usher through German reunification.
After accepting the award, the 81-year-old Biden noted the dramatic changes in the US relationship with Germany during his lifetime.
"When I was born, our countries were at war," Biden said, before adding that he recalled visiting a divided and occupied Berlin as a young man.
"The achievement of a Germany, whole and free, lives on, exceeding, I think, everyone's expectations," Biden said. "The dream of Europe, whole and free, remains the work of our time. Nowhere is that work more urgent than in pushing back against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's vicious attack against Ukraine."
Rearranged visit lasted around 20 hours
Biden's trip comes over a week after he cancelled his original plans to travel to Germany due to Hurricane Milton, a deadly storm that struck the south-eastern United States.
He had been due to carry out the first official state visit to Berlin by a US president since Ronald Reagan, as well as attending a key international summit on aid for Ukraine at the US air base in Ramstein in western Germany.
Instead, the hastily rearranged visit lasted around 20 hours before Biden departed back to Washington.
Biden's trip comes just three months before the end of his term in office, and just weeks before Vice President Kamala Harris faces former president Donald Trump in November's US election, with significant implications for the future of trans-Atlantic ties.
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