File Photo: CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Pompeo's nomination to be secretary of state on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 12, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will embark on a trip to Europe and Middle East soon, the State Department announced on Thursday.
In a statement, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Pompeo's maiden tour as the U.S. top diplomat will take him to Brussels, Riyadh, Jerusalem and Amman on April 26-30.
Pompeo will travel to Brussels on April 26-27, when he will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and participate in the NATO Foreign Ministerial, during which member states will discuss preparations for NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government meeting in July.
He will then travel to the Middle East, where he will meet with the Saudi, Israeli, and Jordanian leaders to discuss critical regional and bilateral issues, said Nauert.
"The Secretary looks forward to meeting key Allies and partners on his first official trip as Secretary of State," she said.
Earlier on Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to replace former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was fired by President Donald Trump on March 13, with a 57:42 vote result on Thursday.
The confirmation enabled Pompeo to represent the United States to attend an upcoming NATO meeting and would facilitate his communication with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to lay the groundwork for President Trump's direct talks with top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
