Biden heading to Berlin for talks on defense, trade and Ukraine

President Joe Biden left Washington for Germany early Thursday for talks on defense, trade and Ukraine.

BERLIN — President Joe Biden is leaving Washington for Germany on Thursday morning in what will be one of the last opportunities to outline his vision for foreign policy before the election next month.

After landing in Berlin, Biden will be greeted with full military honors Friday before receiving the country's highest Order of Merit from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his office said.

Biden is being awarded the Grand Cross special class for "recognition of his contributions to both the German-American friendship and the transatlantic bond, which he has played a key role in shaping through all of the offices he has held over the last five decades,” Steinmeier’s office said a press statement.

Biden will be in Berlin for less than 24 hours and, according to a senior administration official, will also meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss shared military goals as well as economic and trade priorities. The president is also expected to announce a new exchange program and an initiative to drive private investment in emerging technologies in the U.S. and Germany.

The meeting with Scholz comes just months after the German leader played a key role in the multi-nation prisoner swap that brought journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan home from lengthy prison sentences in Russia.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/biden-heading-berlin-talks-defense-trade-ukraine-rcna175878

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