EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed on Friday the political crisis in Venezuela, the peace process in Afghanistan and the armed conflict in the southeast of Ukraine, among a number of other international issues, during their talks in Brussels, the press service of the bloc's foreign affairs service said.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed on Friday the political crisis in Venezuela, the peace process in Afghanistan and the armed conflict in the southeast of Ukraine, among a number of other international issues, during their talks in Brussels, the press service of the bloc's foreign affairs service said.
Pompeo began his five-day tour to Europe on Monday. The secretary of state has already visited Hungary, Poland and Slovakia and is now set to head for Iceland from Brussels.
"They underlined the importance of transatlantic cooperation ... including the current work towards a peaceful and democratic transition in Venezuela, the need to ensure a political transition in Syria, support to peace in Afghanistan and to denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula ... They also discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as EU-US cooperation in the Western Balkans," the press service said in a press release.
While the United States has openly backed the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, who self-proclaimed himself the country's acting president, the European Union did not issue a joint statement following suit because the motion was vetoed by Italy, according to a diplomatic source. Despite this, however, many European countries have individually voiced their support for the Venezuelan opposition leader.
Both the United States and the European Union have been calling for a new "democratic" presidential election to be held in Venezuela.
In late January, the United States held talks in Qatar with the Taliban movement, one of the main forces opposing Kabul, in an attempt to help bring peace to Afghanistan. According to the chief US negotiator on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, the two sides worked out a framework for the future agreement, which could potentially include a ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and the withdrawal of US troops stationed in the country.
