John Kerry to Attend G7 Meeting in Germany Next Week: US

US Secretary of State John Kerry is to attend next week's G7 foreign ministers meeting in Germany to discuss key global political and security issues with his counterparts, the State Department said Wednesday.

The highest-ranking US diplomat will also hold a series of bilateral meetings at the April 14-15 meeting in Lubeck, the statement said.

The G7 is a grouping of the seven biggest economic powers in the world -- Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Britain -- excluding China.

Formerly the G8, the grouping was reduced to seven members in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea.