"The visit serves the preparation of this year's G20 summit in Hamburg," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said during a regular news conference, Reuters reported.
"In addition to the G20 issue, other current foreign policy challenges will also be discussed, such as the Ukraine conflict or the war in Syria," he added.
Seibert said that Merkel and Putin would give a press conference between two rounds of meetings in Sochi.