'We cannot let up': Biden in Berlin vows to continue support for Ukraine

United States President Joe Biden has urged NATO allies to keep backing Ukraine in its war against Russia as he made his farewell visit to Germany just weeks before the US elections.

Biden said on Friday that Western allies must "sustain our support... until Ukraine wins a just and sustainable peace.

"We're headed into a very difficult winter. We cannot let up."

In another worrying development for Ukraine, North Korea has decided to send a "large-scale" troop deployment to support Moscow's war, according to Seoul's spy agency. It said 1,500 special forces were already in eastern Russia undergoing training.

During his one-day visit, Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz before they held four-way talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented his "victory plan" to the European Union and NATO, but his allies have not agreed to his request for immediate NATO membership.

Washington and London have also rejected Ukrainian requests for clearance to use donated long-range weapons against targets inside Russia. Berlin has refused to send its own long-range Taurus missile system.

"We are supporting Ukraine as powerfully as we can," said Scholz. "And at the same time we are making sure that NATO does not become a party to the war, so that this war does not turn into an even bigger catastrophe."

Calls for Gaza truce

The United States has been by far the biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its attack in 2022. Germany is the next biggest supplier.

Paris and London were among foreign capitals to voice concern Friday over the report of North Korean troops readying to back the Russian war effort.

"The increase in cross-cooperation and military support from North Korea to the Russian war effort in Ukraine is very worrying," said Christophe Lemoine, spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at the British embassy in Berlin, Starmer said that "if this is true then to me it looks more an act of desperation than anything else".

The other issue in focus was the Israeli war on Gaza, where Biden and others voiced hope for new momentum towards a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave after Israel killed Hamas politburo leader Yahya Sinwar.

Biden, a close ally of Tel Aviv, said the killing of Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of last year's October 7 Hamas-led blitz on Israel, was a "moment of justice".

The US president said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas".

Scholz said that after Sinwar's death, "hopefully the concrete prospect will now open up for a ceasefire and an agreement to release the hostages in Gaza", comments that were echoed by Starmer.