Merkel, Zelensky to meet amid renewed tensions in eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is to hold talks in Berlin on Monday with Chancellor Angela Merkel as part of the build up to the German leader's White House visit later in the week.
The Berlin meeting is likely to be dominated by the seven years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatist rebels as well as the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Germany has emerged over the last two decades as a key diplomatic bridge between the Western alliance and Moscow as well as other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine.
Merkel talks with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday. It is likely her last visit to the US as chancellor before national elections are held in September in which she is not standing.
In addition to his dinner with Merkel, Zelensky is also set to meet with German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer after talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.