President Biden flew to Ohio Thursday — after saying Ukraine is on the brink of invasion by Russian forces — to push his already passed infrastructure plan.

But Biden cut short the visit, claiming his staff was worried about poor weather — and due to “a little thing going on in Europe.”

The commander-in-chief’s trip to the Lake Erie shoreline focused on his three-month-old infrastructure law’s impact on pollution in the Great Lakes. It drew questions about whether he was distracted from his major role in deterring a war in Europe.

“The reason they tell me I’ve got to head out — I hadn’t planned on going immediately — is because the weather going back to Washington and there’s a little thing going on in Europe right now,” Biden said after speaking for about 20 minutes in Lorain, Ohio.

Biden didn’t shorten the trip by much. He was scheduled to depart Cleveland at 1:45 p.m. and Air Force One lifted off at 1:33 p.m., meaning he left Ohio about 12 minutes earlier than planned.

Biden visited Ohio as Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Europe on Thursday to attend the Munich Security Conference, where she will meet over the weekend with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of NATO member countries.

It’s unclear how Biden will spend his weekend, but the president told his audience in Ohio that “every time I get a chance, I go home to Delaware. You think I’m joking. I’m not.”

Biden was in Delaware for at least part of 28 percent of days during his first year in office.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that Biden’s trip to Ohio would not distract from his focus on Ukraine.

“A senior State Department official this morning said that this is perhaps the most perilous moment for peace and security since the Cold War,” a reporter pressed. “So is there a concern that this trip could distract the president from thinking about Ukraine and Russia?”

Jean-Pierre replied, “Every president, whether it’s a Democratic president or a Republican, has dealt with multiple crises at once. And that’s what this president is doing. He was vice president before, he’s been in the Senate. He knows how to deal with multiple crises at the same time … But this is not going to deter him from what he needs to do for the American public.”

As he left the White House en route to Ohio, Biden predicted a Russian invasion of Ukraine “within the next several days.”

The president’s absence from the Munich conference raised eyebrows.

“He has attended in the past,” a reporter pointed out on a Wednesday night call with White House officials.

“Then-Vice President Biden attended the Munich Conference on multiple occasions.  And, of course, when he was a senator, he attended the Munich Security Conference multiple times. He understands how important the conference itself is,” an official replied. “We are delighted that [Harris] is able to lead the US delegation to Munich now, and think that this is really a great opportunity.”

Biden campaigned in 2020 as an experienced foreign policy expert citing his eight years as vice president and 36 years in the Senate. He led the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and annexed the territory following a disputed referendum. President Vladimir Putin’s government also allegedly supports a pair of pro-Russia breakaway states in eastern Ukraine. 

Biden last week threatened to penalize Russia by blocking operation of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which is poised to begin piping fuel directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea rather than through Ukraine.

“If Russia invades — that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again — then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Scholz appeared notably less enthused about the threat — saying “we are absolutely united” but pointedly refusing to say the words “Nord Stream 2.”

Biden horrified Ukrainian officials last month when he said that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine might result in less-severe penalties — with one Ukrainian official saying that the remark could give Putin a “green light” to invade.