Pompeo Changes European Trip Plans

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has had a change of plans for his European trip. 

Pompeo’s first stop will be Brussels instead of Moscow. 

A State Department official says Pompeo will meet with European officials Monday “to discuss a range of pressing matters including Iran.” Originally Pompeo had planned to meet Monday with U.S. diplomats and business leaders in Moscow. 

It was not immediately clear why there was a change in the schedule.

The rest of his trip plans remain intact. 

The secretary of state travels to Sochi Tuesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

​​Pompeo’s trip comes a few weeks ahead of a G-20 summit meeting in Osaka, Japan, which both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin will attend.

Pompeo’s trip to Russia also comes as tensions simmer between the two countries over Iran.

The U.S. is strengthening its military presence in the Middle East in what officials said was a “direct response to a number of troubling and escalatory indicators and warnings” from Iran.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bombers have arrived in the Middle East in response to concerns Iran may be planning an attack against American targets.

On Wednesday, Lavrov asked Pompeo to use diplomacy instead of threats to solve issues after Lavrov’s talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifin Moscow.
…