Biden cancels trip to meet pope and Zelensky as fires rage in California

The US president’s face-to-face with the Ukrainian president was meant as a final opportunity to showcase the strength of American alliances before Joe Biden leaves office (Ben Curtis/AP)

US president Joe Biden has cancelled the final overseas trip of his presidency just hours before he was set to depart for Rome and the Vatican, choosing to remain in Washington to monitor the response to devastating fires raging in California.

Mr Biden was scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon, after giving the eulogy for former president Jimmy Carter at a memorial service in Washington, for the three-day trip to meet with Pope Francis and Italian president Sergio Mattarella and prime minister Giorgia Meloni as well as a final face-to-face meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.