Tag: Pompeo

Pompeo begins Latin America trip amid tensions over migrant caravan

PANAMA, Panama (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived Thursday in Panama at the start of a tour of the Central American region that President Donald Trump blames for an “onslaught” of US-bound migrants. Pompeo, who will head to Mexico on Friday, had talks in Panama City with President Juan Carlos Varela and Foreign Minister Isabel Saint Malo, who is also vice-president. There were no statements after the meeting that lasted less than […]

Pompeo says no more US reconstruction aid to Syria if Iran stays

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States will refuse any additional reconstruction assistance to war-torn Syria so long as Iranian troops are present in the country, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. “If Syria doesn’t ensure the total withdrawal of Iranian-backed troops, it will not receive one single dollar from the United States for reconstruction,” Pompeo told a pro-Israel group. © Agence France-Presse

Pompeo says Kim ‘ready’ to invite inspectors to nuclear site

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — International inspectors will be allowed into North Korea’s dismantled nuclear testing site, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, after a meeting with Kim Jong Un in which he said “significant progress” was made towards denuclearisation. Pompeo met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang on Sunday to rekindle stalled denuclearisation talks following a landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore. “Chairman Kim said he’s […]

Kim, Pompeo agree to 2nd US-North Korea summit ‘at earliest date’

by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Kim Jong Un has agreed to hold a second summit with US President Donald Trump as soon as possible, Seoul said Sunday, after Washington’s top diplomat held “productive” talks on denuclearization with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kim on Sunday morning for around two hours of talks followed by a lunch in the North’s capital, […]

Pompeo tells critics to quit after Trump competence report

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that US officials should either support President Donald Trump or quit after a report that the Justice Department’s Number Two discussed ways to remove Trump over mental incompetence. The New York Times reported last week that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump to set the stage for pursuing the US Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which provides for […]

Pompeo to lead UN meeting on N. Korea

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will chair a meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea September 27 to urge the international community to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang. The meeting of top diplomats will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations Annual General Assembly. “Secretary Pompeo intends to chair a UNSC ministerial on North Korea on Thursday September the 27th,” State Department spokeswoman Heather […]

Seoul may delay N. Korea office plans

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Monday it may delay the imminent opening of a liaison office in North Korea, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip to Pyongyang was abruptly cancelled by Donald Trump. Trump on Friday pulled the plug on the visit, blaming a lack of progress in denuclearisation efforts since his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June. The sudden cancellation has put the brakes […]

Pompeo to travel to SE Asia, calls for ‘free and open’ region

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region Monday, taking aim at China ahead of a trip to Southeast Asia to promote America’s strategic vision for Asia. Pompeo will depart later this week on a trip to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to hammer home the Trump administration’s commitment to the region, and also press for denuclearization in North Korea. The trip comes at […]

Pompeo in North Korea to seek ‘details’ on denuclearization

  PYONGYANG, North Korea (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang Friday to press Kim Jong Un for a more detailed commitment to denuclearization following the North Korean leader’s historic summit with President Donald Trump. Pompeo was greeted in the North Korean capital by Kim’s right hand man Kim Yong Chol and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. Since meeting Kim in Singapore last month Trump has been bullish about hopes for […]

N. Korea’s Kim knows denuclearization must be ‘quick’: Pompeo

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un understands that denuclearization must happen “quickly”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, warning there will be no sanctions relief for Pyongyang until the process is complete. Washington remained committed to the “complete, verifiable and irreversible” denuclearization of North Korea, Pompeo added, after the joint statement from the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore drew criticism for lack of detail on the key issue. “We […]

Top North Korean to meet Pompeo ahead of US summit

by Andrew Beatty with Carole Landry in New York Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A senior North Korean official was bound for New York for high-level talks with US officials on Tuesday as preparations for a historic nuclear summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un gathered pace. General Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the central committee of the Workers’ Party and right-hand man to Kim, will meet US Secretary of […]

China hopes US-N. Korea summit will happen on schedule

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)–China hopes the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place June 12 as planned, its top diplomat said Wednesday. “If you want to solve the moment now is the time, if you want peace now is the time, if you want to make history now is the time,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday in Washington, alongside his counterpart Mike Pompeo. […]