Asia Pacific
22:44, 01-Mar-2019
Pompeo reiterates U.S. commitment to the Philippines
Updated
22:53, 01-Mar-2019
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stopped in the Philippine capital Manila after the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un, which did not produce an agreement.
Pompeo paid a courtesy call to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday evening.
The meeting was short, but according to the U.S. State Department, counterterrorism was among the issues discussed. They also exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and Pompeo pretty much echoed what Trump said about denuclearization and the lifting of sanctions against the DPRK.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City, Metro Manila, March 1, 2019. /VCG Photo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City, Metro Manila, March 1, 2019. /VCG Photo
On Friday, Pompeo held talks with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin, Jr.
Both officials reaffirmed their partnership and commitment with one another, particularly with regards to a Mutual Defense Treaty that the Philippines' Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has said might need some adjustments due to the changing security landscape.
"We are very assured, we are very confident, that the United States has in the words of Secretary Pompeo, and the words of President Trump to President Duterte: We have your back," Locsin said.