Trump heads to Europe for visit to Poland, G-20 summit

US President Donald Trump left Washington on Wednesday for Europe, where he will visit Poland and later attend the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in the German port city during the July 7-8 summit, Efe news reported.

Air Force One left Andrews Base in Maryland at 7.15 a.m. and Trump is expected to arrive in Polish capital Warsaw on Wednesday night.

First Lady Melania Trump is accompanying her husband on his second foreign trip since being inaugurated on January 20.

Trump's European tour starts as tensions with North Korea continue to rise following Pyongyang's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range that, according to experts, could allow it to strike Alaska.

While Russia and China have called for restraint and renewed negotiations with North Korea, South Korea and the US reacted with a joint military drill.

In Hamburg, Trump is also scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Premier Theresa May, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, among other leaders.

--IANS

soni/vt