President Barack Obama on Wednesday invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Washington in coming months, the White House said in a statement about a telephone conversation between the two leaders. Obama invited Merkel to visit at a "mutually agreeable time in the coming months," the statement said, adding that the two leaders discussed ongoing negotiations over a U.S.-European Union trade agreement and preparations for an upcoming NATO summit. In Berlin, Merkel spokesman Steffan Seibert said the German leader accepted Obama's invitation.
