MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Berlin to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and take part in talks with Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel, the US Department of State said Wednesday.
"Secretary @JohnKerry is on travel to Berlin," the US Department of State confirmed via Twitter on Wednesday. The German Foreign Office later tweeted a photo of Steinmeier and Kerry visiting the Berlin Wall this morning.
Secretary @JohnKerry is on travel to Berlin. Trip details: http://t.co/WkqitVkGZG | Background briefing: http://t.co/URIaETDKZi
— Department of State (@StateDept) 22 октября 2014
Kerry is scheduled to visit the Berlin Wall memorial and meet with children to discuss the meaning of the fall of the wall, according to a US Department of State briefing. Kerry is also to hold a press conference.
Talks between Kerry and Steinmeier, and Merkel will focus on the situation in Ukraine, the Ebola epidemic, the Islamic State (IS), Iran and could also include the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP), Afghanistan, and peace in the Middle East.
"As all of you know, Chancellor Merkel just participated in a bunch of meetings with President Putin, with President Poroshenko, with other leaders as part of the Minsk process. So they'll talk about that and it's really an opportunity to hear from and listen to her," the US State Department briefing said on Tuesday.
A Senior State Department official added that Kerry would give an update and briefing on his meetings with Foreign Minister Zarif and EU High Representative Ashton on P5+1 negotiations with Iran and future plans for nuclear talks with the country. The official also stated that Russia-Ukraine energy talks would be discussed with the intention of de-escalating the situation, however refused to provide details claiming it would hinder negotiators on the ground.
Secretary Kerry is in Berlin, Germany from October 21 to the 22 to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall which happened on November 9, however the secretary is scheduled to be in Asia during that time so he visited Germany earlier to honor the event.
