NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is urging for a diplomatic way out of a confrontation between Greece and Turkey over energy reserves in east Mediterranean waters. Pompeo said after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday that the ongoing military standoff between the two NATO allies is only serving “adversaries who would like to see division in transatlantic unity.” Pompeo said the U.S. remains “deeply concerned” over Turkey’s hydrocarbon search in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exlusive economic rights and noted that President Donald Trump has already spoken with his Turkish counterpart and the prime minister of Greece.
Pompeo urges diplomacy in standoff over Mediterranean gas
FILE – In this Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020 file photo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to reporters following a meeting with members of the U.N. Security Council, at the United Nations. The president of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 rejected the Trump administration’s demand to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran, a move that drew an angry rebuke from the U.S. ambassador who accused opponents of supporting “terrorists.” Pompeo insisted last Thursday that the United States has the legal right to “snap back” U.N. sanctions, even though President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers that was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. (Mike Segar/Pool via AP, File)
