Mike Pompeo

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Kazakhstan on Feb. 2 to join Washington in pressing Beijing over its treatment of Muslim minorities, a sensitive matter for the Central Asian nation which has close ties with its neighbor China.

Speaking on a visit to the capital Nur-Sultan, Pompeo said he has raised the matter in talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the ratification by Greek Parliament on Thursday of an agreement with the US for a significant expansion of military cooperation.

In a tweet, Pompeo said the updated Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement agreement is "a strategic touchstone in our defense relationship."

Greek lawmakers on Thursday ratified an agreement with the United States for a major expansion of military cooperation.
The deal was ratified with 175 votes to 33. Eighty lawmakers voted "present."
The Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed in October by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Athens.

The United States considers Greece a major ally and participant in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, cited by BGNES.

"We consider Athens a key ally and a crucial player in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the Balkans,", the letter stated.

Robert O'Brien is the White House national security adviser and one of US President Donald Trump's closest aides. He and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are considered the two officials that shape the foreign policy of the Trump administration.

The US remains committed to supporting democracy, prosperity and security in Greece, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said in a letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made public Tuesday in which he describes bilateral ties between the two NATO allies as "extraordinary."

The United States resumed joint military operations with Iraq yesterday, interrupted after the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in an U.S. airstrike in Baghdad in early January, according to the New York Times.

The visit to the United States last week reaffirmed the fact that Greece is a stable and reliable partner of the US in an extremely volatile region, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, addressing the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) at a formal dinner on Monday evening.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu discussed the latest developments in the Middle East with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo over the phone on Jan. 12.

Pompeo "reiterated the need for NATO to play a greater role in the region and stressed the U.S. commitment to the UN-facilitated peace process in Syria," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

Following last week's visit to the US by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Washington and Athens have agreed to establish an open line of communication to address any possible moves by Turkey that could create upheaval in the region.