According to the news released by the German Chancellery on the 13th local time, German Chancellor Merkel will visit Moscow on the 20th of this month and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This will be Merkel's 20th visit to Russia during her tenure as Chancellor of Germany.
According to the plan, after finishing the Moscow trip, Merkel will also visit Ukraine on the 22nd.
This visit to Russia and Ukraine is likely to be Merkel's last visit to the two countries during her tenure. Last month, Merkel started a farewell trip and visited the United Kingdom and the United States respectively.
Some analysts pointed out that Merkel's visit is hoping to coordinate on issues of common interests between Germany and Russia before leaving office, such as coordinating positions on the "Beixi-2" natural gas pipeline project jointly built by the two countries.
The Russian side also confirmed that the topics of the meeting between the two heads of government will revolve around the relations between the two countries and current international issues.
In addition, Merkel's visit to Ukraine has also attracted widespread media attention.
The Ukrainian government has previously stated that Merkel will hold talks with Ukrainian President Zelensky during his visit to Ukraine to discuss the situation in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine and the "Beixi-2" natural gas pipeline project.
Merkel was elected Chancellor of Germany for the first time in 2005 and has been re-elected three times since then.
In 2018, Merkel announced that she would no longer run for election after the end of her term as prime minister in 2021.
(Headquarters reporter Li Changhao)