TEHRAN, April 27 - A day after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo landed in Brussels for talks with key allies in Europe on heightened Russian aggression and ways to strengthen the NATO military alliance, Reuters reported.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) – Pompeo, a former Army officer who was a Republican congressman, is regarded as a loyal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump with hawkish world views.
Even before his confirmation on Thursday, the former CIA director was already involved in U.S. diplomacy, although it will be his first meeting at NATO, an organization founded on collective defense against the threat from the former Soviet Union, Reuters reported.
The meeting, a preview to the leaders' summit in July, will discuss Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Georgia and in Syria, as well as plans for increasing security along Europe's southern frontier, a State Department official told reporters.
Pompeo will also press members of the alliance to increase their military budgets to meet a target of 2 percent of economic output on defense every year by 2024, the official said.
Trump sent Pompeo to North Korea three weeks ago to meet the isolated country's leader, Kim Jong Un, ahead of a summit with the U.S. president to address Pyongyang's nuclear program, Reuters reported.
As he left Washington on Thursday, the State Department said Pompeo would also visit Saudi Arabia, Jordan and occupied Palestinian lands during the weekend.
He will have to quickly address a wide array of pressing international issues, including long conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan, as well as Russian assertiveness.
Washington is also working with European allies France, Germany, and Britain on toughening a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, an issue Pompeo is expected to discuss while in Brussels.
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