"It is an informal meeting, an informal exchange of views," spokesman Steffen Seibert said, adding that the pair would not hold a news conference after their talks.

The meeting is one of a series that Merkel is holding at the start of the new year as European tries to get a grip on its two-year old sovereign debt crisis. She is meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin later on Monday and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Stephen Brown and Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Noah Barkin)

(This story is corrected to show pair will not hold joint news conference)