Pompeo Blames Biden ‘Appeasement’ for Iran’s Expanding Aggression in Speech to Tehran Opposition

Mike Pompeo

Rising levels of global violence are helping to highlight the rogue and destabilizing role that Iran plays on the world stage, supporters of the main Iranian opposition movement declared Saturday.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, retired Generals Wesley Clark and Jim Jones, and Robert Joseph, under-secretary of state for arms control and international security, spoke Saturday at a Washington hotel at an event hosted by the Organization of Iranian American Communities.

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Trump Dominates Latest Georgia Poll of Republican Presidential Candidates

Former President Donald Trump only seems to be getting politically stronger since his arrest in Manhattan earlier this month — at least in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase. 

The opening poll of the 2024 campaign season by the University of Georgia School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA) shows Trump with a huge double-digit lead over his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (50.7% to 29.8%).

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Trump Asks NRA Members for Their Votes to End the Radical, Gun Control Left’s Reign

Reminding gun owners what he did for the protection of the Second Amendment and pledging to do much more, former President Donald Trump closed the National Rifle Association’s main event Friday with a stemwinder that brought the crowd to its feet. 

In a full-on campaign speech, the Republican presidential frontrunner told those assembled at the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum that he was running for another term to right the ship listing from “nation-wrecking, globalist marxists, RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and tyrants.” 

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Commentary: Predictably, the Republicans Form Their Circular Firing Squad

With the disappointing midterms, Republicans have lost a major battle in the fight to restore American greatness. We are now rapidly approaching the final standoff between the flailing Republican Party and the reenergized Democratic Party. The Democrats survived what should have been a political bloodbath in 2022, and the Right seems to be in the most vulnerable position since the 1960s, when Republicans were essentially a permanent minority in Washington.

It could happen again. Whether the GOP returns to minority status in two years will depend on the party determines who will be its nominee in the next presidential election. While many on the Right assume it will be Donald J. Trump, there are other candidates in the offing.

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White House Defends TikTok Outreach Amid Bipartisan Security Concerns

On August 9, 2021, Benito Skinner, the Millennial Generation comedian known online as “Benny Drama,” posted a video on TikTok of his day-in-the-life experience as a White House intern, photocopying, making unrequested nail appointments for then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and generally making a mess.

All of it was for laughs, but there was a reason the Biden administration invited him into the West Wing. They wanted Millennials and members of Gen Z to hear a public health message from the TikTok influencer: “We need to get shots in the arms of every single American.”

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Trump Wins CPAC Poll While Support for DeSantis Grows

Former President Donald Trump won the CPAC 2022 straw poll for the 2024 presidential primary with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) coming in second.

The poll, conducted from Thursday to Sunday with 2,564 attendees, shows that 59% of people said they would vote for Trump in the 2024 primary. DeSantis has less than half the support of Trump, 28% as the second-highest-ranking primary candidate.

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Former Trump Cabinet Member Ric Grenell Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, Pulling Prior Robby Starbuck Endorsement

Former Director of National Intelligence and the first openly gay cabinet member in U.S. History, Ric Grenell, has endorsed Morgan Ortagus for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district seat.

Prior to redistricting, Grenell had endorsed Robby Starbuck but he has pulled that endorsement. Both the Ortagus campaign and the Starbuck campaign have confirmed that Grenell’s previous endorsement of Starbuck was pulled.

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Pompeo Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, But Dodges Questions on Her Carpetbagger Status

Former Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has endorsed Morgan Ortagus in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Tennessee Star reached out to Secretary Pompeo’s team for comment on his endorsement of Ortagus and Secretary Pompeo’s team dodged the issue of her recent immigration to Tennessee.

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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Deliver Keynote Address at Center for Christian Virtue Galas in Ohio

Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo, a former Secretary of State and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency under former President Donald Trump, will be the keynote speaker at events for the Center for Christian Virtue.

According to a release from the group, Pompeo will address the crowd at two separate gatherings: the Spring Celebration Galas in Columbus and Cincinnati.

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Biden Clears Way for Russian Gas Line After Nixing Keystone XL

Joe Biden waving

Following a Biden administration move to lift U.S. sanctions blocking completion of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, critics are charging that the new president — who canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office — is more concerned about Russian energy jobs and independence than he is about America’s own.

“President BIden, if [you] can’t put America First, can you at least not put Russia first?” form Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted.

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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Surprises Guests with Appearance at Liberty Univerity’s Equity for Africa Summit

Former U.S. Congressman (R-VA-07) and Dean of the Liberty University School of Business, Dr. David Brat, PhD., welcomed honored guests with a reception and dinner for Equity for Africa, a global business and faith summit. Dr. Brat was joined on stage by surprise special guest, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“Greater development improves security for all of us. It is a collective set of security issues that are threatening not only Africa, but the northern part of Africa through the Middle East,” Pompeo said.

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Commentary: The Importance of the Commission on Unalienable Rights

On March 30,  U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken unveiled the annual State Department report on human rights abuses.  While doing so, he formally announced the disbanding of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. This was unfortunate as the Commission had become an important tool for advancing and defending human rights through U.S. foreign policy.  

Established by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2019, and chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon, the Commission was created as an advisory group for the Secretary.  The Commission’s Charter stated that its task was “not to discover new principles, but to furnish advice to the Secretary for the promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through U.S. foreign policy.”  The Charter also specified the Commission’s advice must be “grounded in our nation’s founding principles and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” 

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Trump Pulls Out of Military Transparency Treaty with Russia, Europe

The Trump administration officially withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, a 2002 agreement to promote military transparency signed by more than 30 countries including Russia.

The Department of State said Sunday that the U.S. had officially withdrawn from the Open Skies Treaty, which went into effect nearly two decades ago. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both announced on May 21 that the U.S. intended to exit the agreement, according to The Associated Press.

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Pompeo Is First Top U.S. Diplomat to Visit an Israeli Settlement

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday became the first top American diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank as the State Department in a major policy shift announced that products from the settlements can be labeled “Made in Israel.”

The two moves reflected the Trump administration’s acceptance of Israeli settlements, which the Palestinians and most of the international community view as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace.

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Pompeo: More Hillary Clinton Emails Could Be Released Before Election

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the State Department is working to release emails from Hillary Clinton’s private server, and that the documents could be published before the November election.

“We’ve got the emails, we’re getting them out. We’ll get all of this information out so the American people can see them,” Pompeo said in an interview on Fox News.

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Pompeo Imposes Visa Restrictions on Staff of Chinese Tech Companies That Support the Chinese Communist Party

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has imposed visa restrictions on employees at Chinese tech companies that provide support to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

An alien cannot gain access to the United States if the secretary of state believes the person’s entry “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” the Department of State said in a press statement Wednesday, citing a section from the Immigration and Nationality Act.

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US Sanctions Chinese Officials Over Repression of Minorities

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party, including a member of the ruling Politburo, for alleged human rights abuses targeting ethnic and religious minorities that China has detained in the western part of the country.

The decision to bar these senior officials from entering the U.S. is the latest of a series of actions the Trump administration has taken against China as relations deteriorate over the coronavirus pandemic, human rights, Hong Kong and trade. Just a day earlier, the administration had announced visa bans against officials deemed responsible for barring foreigners’ access to Tibet. Thursday’s step, however, hits a more senior level of leadership and is likely to draw a harsh response from Beijing.

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Public Policy Group Calls for Ban on Sale of All U.S. Equipment to Huawei, Which is Accused of Having Ties to People’s Liberation Army, Chinese Communist Party

  In the wake of President Donald Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan Saturday, the Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC) called for a halt to the sale of all U.S. equipment to the Huawei communications company. Trump announced that “U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei. I’m talking about equipment where there is no great national emergency problem with it,” CPDC said in a press release. The Committee on the Present Danger: China said it believes that all provision of products and services and licensing of technology to Huawei undermine the security of the United States, its allies, and partners. CPDC said it agrees with the findings of Trump’s executive order of May 15, 2019 titled “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain.” This order addressed the threat posed by “foreign adversaries.” Huawei, a state-owned enterprise with known ties to the People’s Liberation Army, is such an adversary, the committee said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May accused the head of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies of lying about his company’s relationship with the government in Beijing, Battleground State News said. Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecommunications network equipment, is…

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U.S. Guarantees Hormuz Shipping Passage

  The United States says it will “guarantee freedom of navigation” for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic talks or military intervention, contending again that it was “unmistakable” that Iran launched last week’s attacks on two tankers sailing through the narrow passage. “These were attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on commercial shipping on the freedom of navigation with the clear intent to deny transit through the Strait,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Sunday. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States does not want war with Tehran, but it will ensure passage through the chokepoint that links the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, a hook-shaped body of water through which as much as a third of the world’s oil supply is shipped. “The United States is going to make sure that we take all the actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise, that achieve that outcome,” he told Fox. Pompeo told another Sunday news talk show, CBS News’ Face the Nation, that military intervention would be employed if necessary. Iran has rejected the U.S. accusation it is responsible for the attacks on the Norwegian and Japanese ships, one transporting oil and the other chemicals.…

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Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal Sound Alarm Over Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei’s Role in National Defense Technology

  U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are expressing concerns about the inclusion of Huawei in the development of next-generation sharing technology in a band of spectrum critical to national defense. The senators wrote a letter on the topic Wednesday to Patrick Shanahan, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defense, and Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). “For years, alarm bells have been ringing over concerns about Huawei, especially in regards to national security and economic competitiveness,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Yet, as far back as 2016, and as recently as 2018, representatives from Huawei have been meeting with government officials regarding their work to develop next-generation spectrum sharing technologies between the United States Navy and the commercial sector. Spectrum sharing is a solution to spectrum management, but serious questions need to be answered regarding Huawei’s involvement.” Blackburn also tweeted her concerns, saying, “Alarm bells are ringing about Huawei – especially in regards to national security & economic competitiveness. That’s why @SenBlumenthal & I wrote a letter to @ActingSecDef…

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Pompeo Accuses Huawei of Lying About Ties to Chinese Government

  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused the head of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies of lying about his company’s relationship with the government in Beijing. Pompeo said in a CNBC interview Thursday that Huawei “is tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party.” He added, “The existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk.” Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecommunications network equipment, is a leader in 5G technology. It has been trying to win contracts to build a global network that would make the internet much faster. Last week, the U.S. government banned American companies from doing business with Huawei, escalating a heated trade war between the world’s two largest economies. CEO Ren Zhengfei has maintained his company would not share secret user information. Huawei denies it is controlled by Beijing. The company also says it does not work with the Chinese government, an assertion Pompeo dismisses. “To say that they don’t work with the Chinese government is a false statement,” Pompeo said of Huawei. “He is required by Chinese law to do that,” Pompeo added. “The Huawei CEO on that at least isn’t telling the American people…

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Meet with Putin, Lavrov Amid Tensions

  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week, as the two countries clash over a number of issues including Venezuela, Iran, and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Pompeo heads to Moscow Sunday, in his first visit to Russia as chief U.S. diplomat. Top U.S. officials, including Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, have accused Russia of working against Venezuela’s democratically elected opposition leader Juan Guaido in his attempts to oust embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The United States accuses Russia of seeking a foothold in the Western Hemisphere through Venezuela. “We are concerned about Russia’s actions in Venezuela, and we think the support for Maduro is a losing bet.So our support to the Venezuelan people continues, and that will be a subject for the discussion,” a senior State Department official told reporters last week. Pompeo arrives in Russia on Monday to meet with American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow before meeting with U.S. business leaders.He will also lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in honor of those who fought against the Nazi regime. The secretary of state will then travel to…

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Pompeo: US Prepared for Military Intervention in Venezuela

  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the United States is prepared to intervene militarily to stem the ongoing unrest in Venezuela. “Military action is possible,” the top U.S. diplomat told the Fox Business Network. “If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.” However, he reiterated that the U.S. would prefer a peaceful transition of power in Caracas from socialist President Nicolas Maduro to the self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly who is recognized by the United States and about 50 other countries as the legitimate leader of the South American country. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told CNN and Fox News that Pompeo would talk Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Moscow’s continued support for the embattled Maduro. Pompeo told interviewers that Maduro, in the face of street protests against his regime, was prepared to leave Venezuela for Cuba on Tuesday, but that Russia convinced him to stay to fight Guaido’s call for the Venezuelan military to join him in a push to overthrow Maduro. Maduro and the Russian foreign ministry denied the Maduro departure allegation, with Moscow saying the U.S. claim was part of its…

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Pompeo Won’t Publicly Back Two-State Solution for Israel, Palestinians

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined on Wednesday to publicly say the Trump administration still backs a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “We are now working with many parties to share what our vision (is) as to how to solve this problem,” Pompeo told the U.S. Senate hearing where he was pressed for a response on the issue. He said the administration “has been working on a set of ideas” for Middle East peace “that we hope to present before too long,” adding that he hoped they would provide a basis for discussions on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine asked Pompeo, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives, if he thought a peace agreement including one state for Israel and one state for the Palestinians was an outdated idea. “It’s certainly an idea that’s been around a long time, senator,” Pompeo responded. “Ultimately the individuals in the region will sort this out,” the secretary of state said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a clear path to re-election on Wednesday, and a record fifth term in office, with religious-rightist parties set to hand him a parliamentary majority, despite a…

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US Expands Ban on Foreign Aid to Overseas Abortion Providers

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday expanded the Trump administration’s ban on U.S. aid to groups that promote or provide abortions to include organizations that comply with the rules but give money to others that don’t. Pompeo also said the U.S. would cut some assistance to the Organization of America States because at least two of its agencies are allegedly lobbying for abortion availability in the Western Hemisphere. Pompeo said the administration was committed to protecting “the sanctity of life” in the United States and abroad and would enforce the policy “to the broadest extent possible” by not allowing foreign non-governmental organizations to skirt the ban. “We will refuse to provide assistance to foreign NGOs that give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “We will enforce a strict prohibition on backdoor funding schemes and end runs around our policy. American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions.” The move is an expansion of the so-called “Mexico City policy” first established under President Ronald Reagan but rescinded by subsequent Democratic administrations. Just days after taking office in 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the policy and then…

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US Hits Iran With New Sanctions While Pompeo Visits Lebanon

The Trump administration hit Iran with new sanctions on Friday while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was denouncing Iran’s growing influence on a visit to Lebanon. The Treasury Department said the sanctions target 31 Iranian scientists, technicians and companies affiliated with Iran’s Organization for Defense Innovation and Research, which had been at the forefront of the country’s former nuclear weapons program. Officials said those targeted continue to work in Iran’s defense sector and form a core of experts who could reconstitute that program. Fourteen people, including the head of the organization, and 17 subsidiary operations are covered by the sanctions. The sanctions freeze any assets that those targeted may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from any transactions with them. But, officials say the move will also make those targeted “radioactive internationally” by making people of any nationality who do business with them subject to U.S. penalties under so-called secondary sanctions. U.S. secondary sanctions apply to foreign businesses and individuals and can include fines, loss of presence in the American economy, asset freezes and travel bans. Officials said the threat of such sanctions will significantly limit the ability of those designated to travel outside of Iran, participate in research…

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In Middle East, Pompeo Seeks Regional Support Against Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the Middle East for regional security talks as Washington looks to draw new support in its opposition to Iranian aggression. Pompeo began is trip in Kuwait late Tuesday and headed to Israel Wednesday. His trip will also take him to Lebanon. In Israel, Pompeo is due to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is headed to a tough April 9 re-election contest as Netanyahu is embroiled in a corruption investigation and facing allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Pompeo, in comments to reporters en route to the Middle East, dismissed the suggestion that his meeting with Netanyahu could be seen as the U.S. intruding in the Israeli election in support of Netanyahu. A senior State Department official said last week that Pompeo would not be meeting with Netanyahu’s opponents, but Netanyahu alone as the current head of the Israeli government. Netanyahu is visiting Washington next week for the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful Jewish lobbying group in the United States, and also could meet with President Donald Trump. Pompeo said the recent U.S. shift away from terminology describing the West Bank and…

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US to Remove All Diplomatic Personnel from Venezuela

The United States says it is removing all remaining personnel from its embassy in Venezuela. In a statement issued late Monday night, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the personnel will be pulled out of Caracas this week. Secretary Pompeo said the decision to shut down the embassy “reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela” as well as the conclusion that the presence of the diplomatic staff “has become a constraint on U.S. policy.” The State Department ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Venezuela back in January, days after President Nicolas Maduro ended diplomatic relations with Washington and ordered U.S. diplomats to leave after President Donald Trump officially recognized Juan Guaido as interim president. Guaido had declared himself president after claiming Maduro’s re-election was illegitimate. The U.S. announcement that it was closing its embassy comes as Venezuela enters the sixth day of a nationwide power outage Tuesday. Desperate residents are fetching water from a polluted river and drainage pipes, with schools and businesses closed and stores unable to keep cold and fresh whatever food is on hand. Some hospitals have generators and doctors are hoping to be able to transfer patients who need operations to save their lives to those…

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Pompeo: American-Born Islamic State Woman Is Not US Citizen

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contended Thursday that an American-born woman who defected to the Islamic State terrorist group is not a U.S. citizen and should not be allowed to return home from Syria because her father was a Yemeni diplomat. President Donald Trump said he ordered Pompeo to not let the woman, Hoda Muthana, return to the U.S., even though her lawyer says she is willing to face U.S. prosecution for willingly going to Syria and using social media to praise the killings of Westerners. “She may have been born here,” Pompeo told NBC’s “Today” show. “She is not a U.S. citizen, nor is she entitled to U.S. citizenship.” He contended that the 24-year-old woman, now with a child born in a relationship with one of her three jihadist husbands, is not an American citizen because of her father’s diplomatic status. But Muthana’s lawyer is telling U.S. news outlets that the father had ended his diplomatic service “months and months” before his daughter was born in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey in 1994, thus making her an American citizen. The lawyer, Hassan Shibly, told CNN that Muthana “should have known better” than to leave her home…

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Pompeo Warns Central European Allies Over Russia, China Ties

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned during a trip to NATO allies Slovakia and Hungary that Russia and China are trying to fill a political vacuum in central Europe caused by what he described as the United States’ absence in the region over recent years. Arriving Tuesday in Bratislava, Pompeo said the United States had been a friend through three decades of post-Soviet independence. The warm sentiments echoed those given to Hungary during a visit Monday to Budapest, where he urged his Hungarian counterpart to offer more support to Kyiv following Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine. “I spoke with the foreign minister about the urgent importance of supporting Ukraine in its quest for sovereignty and territorial integrity. We must not let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin drive wedges between friends and NATO. Hungarians know all too well from their history that an authoritarian Russia will never be a friend to the freedom and sovereignty of smaller nations,” said the top U.S. diplomat. Budapest is often accused by allies of being too close to Russia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has regularly visited Putin in Moscow, while Russia is set to build two nuclear reactors in…

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