US Secretary of State said he putd off a visit to Greenland, citing pressing business in Washington, The Local Denmark reported. Mike Pompeo’s secretary confimed that a meeting will be rescheduled.
Danish foreign minister will meet the US Secretary of State later, said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Thursday. The official reason for postponing the meeting in Greenland’s capital Nuuk is Pompeo’s “a need for the secretary to be in Washington”.
Under the preliminary plan, The US secretary of State’s tour of Greenland was meant to have closed out a four-day visit to Europe that started in Finland, where he attended a meeting of the eight members of the Arctic Council.
The US top diplomat was scheduled to visit Nuuk and to make a second stop to see New York Air National Guard troops deployed to assist climate research. Denmark’s foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, had been set to meet Mr Pompeo on Thursday.
“We look forward to rescheduling the secretary’s visit at a time convenient for Greenland, Denmark and the United States,” Ortagus said.
Greenland’s Cabinet was informed on the changing the plans in a statement, the cancellation came two days after Pompeo also ditched a trip to Germany to fly to Iraq amid soaring tensions with Iran.
During the earlier discussion on Arctic, Mike Pompeo noted that new sea routes were opening in the usually frozen Arctic — and challenged the role of China in seeking interests in the region.
