Merkel to Visit Ukraine Weeks before Leaving Office

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit Kiev weeks before she leaves the office, the Ukrainian presidency said on Monday.

The visit comes as Ukraine gets ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24.

Berlin has been a key ally to Kiev since 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea and pro-Russia separatists broke away from Ukraine, sparking a rumbling conflict that has so far claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia together comprise the so-called Normandy format, a grouping that tries to resolve the conflict.

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to visit Ukraine on August 22,” Sergiy Nykyforov, a spokesman to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Facebook.

He added that the topics of negotiations would include security and bilateral relations.

In July, Merkel held a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, becoming the first European leader who visited the White House in the Biden administration.

Biden complimented German Chancellor with sweet words on his Instagram following their unfruitful summit.

“As the first woman chancellor, Angela Merkel’s life is one of groundbreaking service to Germany and the world,” Biden wrote on Instagram.