Ukraine allies meeting postponed after Biden pulls out over Hurricane Milton

BERLIN — A summit of allied countries aimed at coordinating more military support for Ukraine set for Saturday Oct. 12 has been postponed following the cancellation of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Germany.

At the end of a three-day trip to Germany, Biden was due to chair a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a loose alliance of more than 50 countries known as the Ramstein Format, named for the air base in which it is usually held.

“The October 12, 2024 event is postponed,” the U.S.-managed Ramstein Air Base said in an emailed note on Wednesday. “Announcements about future Ukraine Defense Contact Group meetings will be forthcoming.”

The grouping coordinates military support for Kyiv, and is a critical platform for discussing the ramp up in supplies of air defense systems and ammunition to the war-ravaged country.

However, as Hurricane Milton bears down on the Florida coast this week the White House announced early Tuesday that Biden’s trip to Germany wouldn’t happen.

Ahead of the Ramstein meeting, Biden was set to hold talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Berlin on the Saturday morning, while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also set to present his so-called Victory Plan at Ramstein later in the day with the hope of securing further military support.

Asked late Tuesday whether the Ramstein summit could be rescheduled to coincide with a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels set for Oct. 17 and 18, U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Sabrina Singh said talks were ongoing.

“We’re just figuring this out right now,” Singh said during a briefing. “So when there’s more updates to provide, I certainly will. But the president just pulled down his trip this morning. So we’re working through those details.”