Italy's Meloni to miss European leaders' meeting with Biden in Berlin

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is to miss Friday's meeting of European leaders with US President Joe Biden in Berlin.

Meloni said on Wednesday she "could not attend under any circumstance" as she is due to visit the Middle East, including a trip to Lebanon.

"Maybe it would be more effective to talk to people in the region than to do so among ourselves," she said in Brussels ahead of a European Union summit.

"That is why this trip is a priority for me," she added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to host Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the German capital on Friday, with the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine likely on the agenda.

Meloni's absence from the meeting has sparked concern in Italy, which currently holds the presidency of the Group of 7 (G7) leading industrialized economies. Rome is to be the only European G7 member absent from the talks in Berlin.