German president urges US not to forgo allies as he honours Biden

Berlin: Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he hoped the United States would remember its allies were indispensable as he awarded President Joe Biden Germany's highest order of merit on Friday for services to transatlantic ties.

Biden's swansong trip to Berlin to discuss matters from the war in Ukraine to the expanding conflict in the Middle East comes as elections loom in the United States in two-and-a-half weeks.

The potential re-election of former President Donald Trump is cause for worry in many European states like Germany which saw relations deteriorate under his first presidency from 2017 to 2021. Trump, the Republican nominee, is polling neck-and-neck with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.

“Just a handful of years ago, the distance had grown so wide that we almost lost each other,” Steinmeier said in a speech after Biden was welcomed in Berlin outside the presidential palace with military honors.

“When you were elected president, you restored Europe’s hope in the transatlantic alliance literally overnight."

Trump has signalled he would be more reluctant than Biden to continue to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion. He has also indicated that US aid to allies in the NATO western military alliance would come with conditions attached.

"NATO is an indispensable alliance," said Steinmeier. "So in the months to come, I hope that Europeans remember America is indispensable for us. And I hope that Americans remember your allies are indispensable for you."

Biden said the West could not give up on Ukraine, which now faced a bleak winter ahead, and thanked Germany for its support. The United States and Germany are Ukraine's top military and financial backers.

"We cannot let up. We must sustain our support. In my view, we must keep going until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace consistent with the UN Charter," he said.

Biden is due to hold closed-door talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz before lunch on security, trade and other economic issues.

Later British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will jet into Berlin to join them for talks focused largely on how to end the fighting in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the east and a bleak winter of power cuts looms.

"The key question is the nature of security guarantees and so that's what we will talk about tomorrow," Macron told reporters on Thursday.

US election looming

That Biden is paying what could be his last visit to Europe as president to Berlin is testament to the close working relationship he has with Scholz.

Biden built trust with Germany at the start of his term and looked the other way for a while on the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline project, designed to double the flow of Russian gas direct to Germany, said Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

That closer relationship enabled Washington to work closely with Berlin after Russia invaded Ukraine, with German spending on defence swiftly raised to meet the NATO target of 2 per cent of GDP while Russian gas imports were slashed.

"The choice on November the 5th is only Americans' choice to make," Steinmeier said.

"And we, as Europeans, have a choice too. We have the choice to do our part, to be unwavering in our support for Ukraine, to invest in our common security, to invest in our shared future, and as you have done, sir, to stand by the transatlantic alliance no matter what."

Berlin also played a critical role in a major prisoner swap in August between Russia and the West that saw the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan from Russian detention.

"It's a thank-you tour but it's also a message to say, 'please stay the course on Ukraine no matter what happens'," said David-Wilp.