Pompeo stops in Montenegro to discuss NATO, no comment on Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began a short trip to two small Balkan countries, Montenegro and North Macedonia, on Friday to discuss their roles in the Western NATO alliance.
The streets in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica through which Pompeo’s motorcade passed were cordoned off by police.
Flying in from Rome, Pompeo became the most senior U.S. official to visit Montenegro since independence in 2006. He was set to be the most senior U.S. official to visit North Macedonia since 2000 in a stopover later in the day before flying on to Athens.
Pompeo was met by Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic at the airport, and due to meet President Milo Djukanovic later on.
Pompeo’s trip to Southern Europe has been overshadowed by an impeachment inquiry at home against President Donald Trump.
Pompeo has yet to comment on evidence presented in the probe on Thursday in which it was revealed that the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, thought it was “crazy” to withhold military aid from Kiev as it confronted a threat from Russia.
However, Republican lawmakers said the evidence presented fell far short of a “quid pro quo” – exchanging or withholding U.S. assistance according to whether Ukraine helped damage Trump’s political rival, Democratic Senator Joe Biden.
At a camera spray at the start of a meeting with Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and Darmanovic, Pompeo did not respond when asked by a journalist if he thought Volker had acted appropriately in the case.
SECURITY ISSUES
U.S. officials said Pompeo would discuss security issues, given that Montenegro joined the U.S.-led NATO alliance in 2017 and North Macedonia’s membership is expected to be ratified by the end of the year. “The focus here is on NATO allies number 29 and 30,” a senior State Department official said in previewing the trip for journalists last week.