Berlin - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel next week on his first visit to Germany since stepping down as president, government sources said Tuesday.

The talks are expected to take place on January 16. Putin is also scheduled to meet Merkel's deputy, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and pay a visit to the International Green Week agricultural fair that opens in the German capital next week.

Putin, who has been prime minister since May 2008, might also pay a visit to the east German city of Dresden, where he served as a Soviet KGB officer from 1985-1990, the sources said. (dpa)