US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to visit UK ahead of Brexit, then to Ukraine
- Ukraine is at the heart of the US president’s impeachment trial
- Pompeo will also discuss ways to ‘broaden and deepen trade ties’ with the UK after the country leaves the EU
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Britain next week ahead of its exit from the European Union and will then travel to Ukraine, the country at the heart of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
Pompeo arrives in London on Wednesday, meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to “discuss ways to broaden and deepen trade ties” after Brexit at the end of the month, the State Department said.
Johnson is cultivating Britain’s relations with Washington in a bid to offset the potential damage of withdrawal from the EU.
But there are several points of friction.
Trump, a long-time advocate of Britain’s leaving the European Union, has praised Johnson and promised a lucrative new trade deal, although both sides admit hammering out the details will be hard.
Pompeo’s visit coincides with an expected British decision on whether to allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to develop its next-generation 5G phone network in the country, something the US has strongly discouraged as a security threat.