WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President is heading to Germany Thursday and will visit Angola the first week in December, so he could remain in Washington to monitor the federal response to as it struck Florida.
The initial itinerary for the postponed trip included a meeting on the with allied nations at an American military base in Germany before Biden was to continue on to Angola, but this visit to Germany will be brief. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would speak by phone Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but they would not be able to meet in Europe this time.
Biden and German Chancellor have also spoken by phone to discuss the need for the countries to 鈥渃ontinue our strong collaboration on geopolitical priorities, including supporting Ukraine鈥檚 defense against Russian aggression,鈥� according to the White House. But Jean-Pierre said the trip was important to Biden, particularly because of Germany's help .
鈥淭he president really wanted to make sure to go to Germany to thank Chancellor Scholz directly," she said.
There's a significant measure of anxiety in Europe about what next month's U.S. presidential election could mean for Ukraine.
Vice President , the Democratic nominee, has been in lockstep with Biden about the need to maintain robust economic and military support for Ukraine. Republican has said he would move to quickly to end the war the war with Russia should he regain the White House.
Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. , has said that the plan would include establishing a 鈥渄emilitarized zone鈥� and that Ukraine would not reclaim territory that Russia occupies and would agree not to join NATO.
Scholz has been one of Biden's closest global allies.
In addition to his robust support for Ukraine, Scholz played a critical role in Wall Street Journal reporter corporate security executive and others from Russian prisons in a multinational prisoner swap.
in post-Soviet history, Scholz agreed to release , a Russian who was convicted of the 2019 murder of a 40-year-old Georgian citizen who had fought Russian troops in Chechnya and later claimed asylum in Germany.
Biden has not visited Africa since taking office in early 2021.
Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
