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US Secretary of State plans to visit Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus

Mike Pompeo does not plan to visit Moscow, according to a diplomatic source

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Spencer Platt/Getty Images

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

© Spencer Platt/Getty Images

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus in 2020, he informed on Twitter on Monday.

"Excited to travel to Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Cyprus in the new year to meet with counterparts and affirm U.S. priorities across #Europe and South Central Asia," he wrote.

According to a statement by the US State Department, Pompeo will visit Kiev on January 3, where he plans to hold talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Foreign Minister Vadim Pristayko and Defense Minister Andrey Zagorodniuk.

Excited to travel to Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Cyprus in the new year to meet with counterparts and affirm U.S. priorities across #Europe and South Central Asia.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 30, 2019

On January 4, Pompeo will arrive in Minsk, where he will meet with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei "to underscore the U.S. commitment to a sovereign, independent, stable, and prosperous Belarus, and affirm our desire to normalize relations to move our bilateral relationship forward."

Mike Pompeo does not plan to visit Russia during his trip to Ukraine and Belarus in early January, a diplomatic source informed TASS on Monday.

"Pompeo does not plan to visit Moscow," the source said, answering a corresponding question.

On January 5, the US secretary of state will travel to Nur-Sultan to meet with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the republic’s first leader Nursultan Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi.

Pompeo will then travel to Tashkent on January 5-6, where he will meet with Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov. "In Tashkent, the Secretary will also participate in a C5+1 Ministerial with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to discuss our shared interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan, and future cooperative efforts in the region," the US State Department informed.

On January 7, Pompeo will arrive in Cyprus, where he plans to hold talks with President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.

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