Biden heads to Germany for talks on Ukraine and Middle East

His meeting with Western allies comes just weeks before US presidential election

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US President Joe Biden took off for Berlin on Oct 17 for a rapid visit to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine with the leaders of Germany, France and Britain as Kyiv urges its Western allies to take urgent steps to end the fighting.

The rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East is also expected to be high on the agenda in talks between the leaders as diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have stalled.

Mr Biden had originally been scheduled to convene a broader meeting of Ukraine's military supporters at the US Ramstein airbase in Germany last week during a planned three-day state visit to the country that would have been the first in nearly 40 years.

He cancelled that trip to focus on dealing with the onslaught of and fallout from Hurricane Milton in the US, but is making up for it with the quick sojourn this week.