Biden to visit Germany on Oct 18, German government sources say

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is due to visit Germany on Friday, having cancelled a visit last week because of Hurricane Milton striking the U.S., German government sources told Reuters on Sunday.

Spiegel magazine had earlier reported the new date, saying plans for meetings were already well advanced.

The sources said Biden's visit would not have the character of a formal state visit but would be slimmed down to attend to joint work in progress.

Spiegel magazine said official meetings with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier were on the agenda for next Friday. Talks would address the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, it said.

Biden's cancellation of the originally planned trip overturned plans for a wider meeting of the so-called Ramstein group of Ukraine arms donors to be part of his stay in Germany, which would have discussed possible new aid commitments to Ukraine.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Vera Eckert; Editing by Frances Kerry)