UKRAINE
At a press conference in Germany, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was questioned about the validity of a setback in US relations with the Ukraine. The United States has provided $390 million in security assistance and defense assistance to the country. The Secretary said the United States will continue to fight corruption there. He added that Europe understands deeply “the challenges of corruption in Ukraine.” Pompeo pointed out that this issue has been at the “center of the State Department’s mission set,” and is something the Department worked on last year and will work on again in 2020 by helping to ensure President Zelensky has the “opportunity to root out corruption inside of his own country.”
IRAN
Iran remains the bad boy on the block when it comes to nuclear issues. Its latest nuclear escalations reflect the regime’s intentions all along: to extort the international community into accepting its violence and terror while it undermines the sovereignty of its neighbors, according to the State Department. In a statement by Secretary Pompeo released this week, he said that members of the international community who are rightly concerned with Iran’s latest attacks and provocations should “imagine how Iran would behave with a nuclear weapon. The United States will never allow this to happen.”
Iran’s expansion of proliferation-sensitive activities raises concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout. Pompeo charged that Iran’s leaders are using nuclear extortion and that the world must serious steps to increase pressure.
SYRIA
A senior State Department official claimed Russia’s involvement in the Middle East, and Syria and Turkey in particular, was a desperate act. He added that while the Russians don’t think President of Syria won, they are “comfortable” he will survive. The Russians are trying to determine now to move forward in the region, according to the official. He pointed out that Moscow has “played a fairly large role in ensuring that this constitutional committee [in Geneva] would be set up indicates that they know that they cannot simply embrace Assad’s never say yes, never budge, simply they shall not pass policies. It’s not going to get half the population that’s fled their homes back; it’s not going to get the international community to open up its coffers; it’s not going to get the fighting in the end to stop. So therefore – and not going to get all of the armies that are now swirling around inside Syria to go home. So therefore, they’re willing to do this.”
CHINA
The Uighur minority in western China continue to be threatened, arrested, tortured and harmed in other ways by the government in Beijing. In response to the ongoing harassment and ill-treatment of this minority Secretary Pompeo issued a strong statement condemning Beijing’s actions in the region. It said the “United States remains deeply troubled by multiple reports that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has harassed, imprisoned, or arbitrarily detained family members of Uighur Muslim activists and survivors of Xinjiang internment camps who have made their stories public. In some cases, these abuses occurred shortly after meetings with senior State Department officials…The courage of Uighur advocates to speak out is vital to unearthing the truth about the PRC’s abuses of human rights, including repression of freedom of religion. We once again call on Beijing to cease all harassment of Uighurs living outside of China, to release all those arbitrarily detained, and to allow families to communicate freely without repercussions.” In a recent interview the Secretary pointed out that the world must recognize what is happening in China and stand up against the atrocities.
EUROPE
The European allies of the United States faced criticism by Secretary Pompeo for their lack of resolve in implementing economic sanctions against Iran and terrorist groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, and others. He did acknowledge that recently Europe is beginning to recognize that the Iranians are moving in the wrong direction. Referring to reports of Iran’s enrichment of uranium, fissile material, the Secretary noted that he believes “the Europeans will come to see this for what it is: a regime that is intent on using nuclear – nuclear material to blackmail, to try and extort money from Europe or from the West.” Washington is continuing to urge its European allies to support sanctions.
DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.
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