Pompeo abruptly cancels Berlin visit

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abruptly canceled a visit to Berlin on Tuesday due to “pressing issues” and is expected to reschedule his meetings there, officials announced.

“Unfortunately, we must reschedule the Berlin meetings due to pressing issues. We look forward to rescheduling this important set of meetings. The Secretary looks forward to being in Berlin soon,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement to The Hill.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin also shared news of the canceled trip in a tweet on Tuesday.

.@statedeptspox on the @SecPompeo visit: “Unfortunately, we must reschedule the #Berlin meetings due to pressing issues. We look forward to rescheduling this important set of meetings. The Secretary looks forward to being in Berlin soon.”

— US-Botschaft Berlin (@usbotschaft) May 7, 2019

{mosads}Pompeo was scheduled to meet Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas as part of a series of European visits including a summit with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which occurred Monday.

Merkel’s office said in a statement that Pompeo’s Berlin visit will not proceed “because of the visit’s cancellation by the U.S. side,” according to Bloomberg News. It directed inquiries on the matter to the U.S. Embassy. 

A scheduled visit to London is still expected to occur, a United Kingdom foreign office spokeswoman told Bloomberg.

A State Department spokesperson told The Hill that there is no change in Pompeo’s schedule in London for Wednesday. 

“We will update the public schedule soon,” the spokesperson said.

Pompeo is expected to meet with Lavrov again in Russia on May 14, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing the RIA news agency.

Updated: 1:24 p.m.