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Friday 29 of March 2024

Pompeo meeting with Merkel cancelled over 'pressing issues'


AP Photo,Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to the media on the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministers' working dinner at the Arktikum museum in Rovaniemi, Finland, Monday, May 6, 2019. The U.S. is dispatching an aircraft carrier and other military resources to the Middle East following what it says are indications that Iran and its proxy forces are preparing to possibly attack U.S. forces in the region. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
AP Photo,Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to the media on the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministers' working dinner at the Arktikum museum in Rovaniemi, Finland, Monday, May 6, 2019. The U.S. is dispatching an aircraft carrier and other military resources to the Middle East following what it says are indications that Iran and its proxy forces are preparing to possibly attack U.S. forces in the region. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — A planned meeting in Germany between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chancellor Angela Merkel was canceled at the last minute, according to the U.S. State Department Tuesday.

Pompeo was due to meet Merkel and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Berlin but State Department spokesman Morgon Ortagus said the talks needed to be rescheduled due to “pressing issues,” without elaborating further.

“We look forward to rescheduling this important set of meetings,” Ortagus said in a statement. “The secretary looks forward to being in Berlin soon.”

Merkel’s office confirmed the cancellation “by the American side” but referred other questions to the U.S. Embassy, which had no further comment.

Maas said he had talked with Pompeo by telephone, and they had agreed to find another time for a meeting soon.

Pompeo has been taking part in a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland. It wasn’t immediately clear where he would be heading next.