US President Joe Biden met with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the "Bellevue" in Berlin, reported DPA and Reuters.
Biden signed the guest book, then participated in a military honors welcome ceremony. Steinmeier then presented him with the highest degree of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, the highest honor awarded to foreign heads of state.
The only other American president who received this award is George Bush Sr., DPA notes.
Biden is then expected to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for bilateral talks, before his meetings with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Biden is expected to discuss Ukraine and the Middle East with his allies, Reuters notes.
The president himself announced in "X" that he had arrived in Berlin. "I am ready to meet old friends and strengthen our close alliance as we stand together for freedom and oppose tyranny around the world," he added.
The talks are expected to discuss how to end the fighting in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the east of the country and a bleak winter of blackouts approaches.
The key issue will be security guarantees "and that is exactly what we will talk about tomorrow", Macron said yesterday.
The fact that Biden chose Germany for what is likely to be his last visit is evidence of his close working relationship with Scholz, Reuters notes. They allowed him to work closely with Berlin after the start of the Russian invasion, with German defense spending rising rapidly, reaching the NATO target of 2% of GDP, while spending on importing Russian gas fell.
Germany also played a key role in the prisoner swap between Russia and the West in August.
"This is a thank-you tour, but it is also a message that says, "please keep the same course towards Ukraine, no matter what happens," says Sudha David-Wilp, director of the German Fund's Berlin branch " Marshall".