German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Russia on Jan. 11 for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the crisis triggered by the killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a US air strike, the Kremlin press service said.
Merkel will make the trip on the invitation of Putin and they will also discuss the situation in Syria, Libya and Ukraine, it said.
Merkel's spokesman said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas would accompany her on the trip.
Soleimani, viewed as the second most powerful man in Iran, was killed at Baghdad airport last Friday by a US drone. Deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the strike.
The attack has taken long-simmering US-Iranian hostilities into uncharted waters and stoked concerns about a major conflagration.
Iran has vowed revenge against Washington and the Iraqi parliament backed on Sunday a recommendation by the prime minister that all foreign troops should be ordered out.
President Donald Trump warned that American forces would hit back at 52 Iranian targets if Americans come under attack.
Around 5,000 US troops remain in Iraq, most in an advisory capacity.
