Daily Mail: Mike Pompeo to have face-to-face meeting with Putin on first trip to Russia as secretary of state to discuss 'aggressive and destabilizing actions' by Moscow
* Mike Pompeo is making his first trip to Russia as secretary of state next week
* He'll meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks in Sochi
* Trump is looking to move past the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion and spoke to Putin by phone a week ago
* He claimed Putin 'smiled' and Trump said they 'didn't discuss' the 2020 election
* State Department signaled that Pompeo plans to have a frank converstion
* 'Russia has taken a series of aggressive and destabilizing actions on the global stage,' a senior State Department official told reporters on Friday
* Meeting could serve as a precursor for a Trump-Putin summit
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making his first visit to Moscow as America's chief diplomat next week to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks.
Trump is looking to move past the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion and spoke to Putin by phone a week ago on Friday.
If Trump's call was the carrot, Pompeo's coming with a stick, the State Department signaled on Friday.
'The starting point we have to have when we discuss our policy toward Russia, and this is part of what diplomacy does, and the secretary's trip, is to acknowledge frankly that Russia has taken a series of aggressive and destabilizing actions on the global stage,' a senior official said Friday.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. He is not going to cancel this trip as he did with German chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this week .... U.S. Secretary Of State Pompeo Cancels Trip To Germany Citing 'Pressing Issues' (May 7, 2019).
More News On U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Meeting Russian President Putin In Sochi On May 14
US Secretary of State Pompeo to meet Russia’s President Putin & Foreign Minister Lavrov on May 14 -- RT
US Secretary of State to visit Moscow, Sochi on May 12-14 -- TASS
Pompeo to Meet Putin in Sochi on 14 May -- Sputnik
Pompeo to raise 'aggressive, destabilizing' Russian actions with Putin, Lavrov -- Reuters
Pompeo to meet Putin on Russia visit: State Department -- AFP
Arms control, Venezuela, Iran high on Pompeo’s Russia agenda -- AP
Pompeo to meet with Putin in Russia next week -- Politico
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet with Vladimir Putin in Russia next week -- CNBC
