Kerry to start European tour this week

US Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss Syria and Ukraine and attend NATO and OSCE meetings during visits to Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, and Brussels, Belgium, from December 4-8, according to a press release by the State Department.

He will meet German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on December 4 and 5 to discuss cooperation on Syria and Ukraine, the statement read.

His December 6-7 visit to Brussels will be to attend the NATO foreign ministerial meeting.

The talks will aim to “further efforts to strengthen NATO’s security, to project stability to the Alliance’s east and south, and to strengthen NATO-EU cooperation,” said the State Department.

On his visit, he will also meet EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to discuss US-EU cooperation on a range of global issues.

Kerry will then return to Germany on December 7-8 to attend the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.

Over there, he will emphasize the need for all 57 OSCE participating states to “uphold and implement OSCE principles and commitments, including on human rights and military security.”

Kerry is currently on a two-day visit to Rome and Vatican City, where he has met Pope Francis and his counterparts from Italy, Qatar and Russia, along with the UN special envoy to Syria.

Source: MENA