Sarkozy, Merkel to meet ahead of EU summit

PARIS — A French official says the leaders of France, Germany, the IMF and European Central Bank and others will meet Wednesday night to work on a comprehensive solution to the deepening euro debt crisis.

The official says the last-minute, “informal working meeting” will take place Wednesday night in Frankfurt, to prepare for a much-awaited EU summit in Brussels on Sunday.

The official said that French President Nicolas Sarkozy left Wednesday for Frankfurt for the meeting. Sarkozy will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, incoming ECB chief Mario Draghi, EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to presidential policy.