Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not find time to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived on a visit to this country. This was stated by a senior representative of the State Department, RIA Novosti reports.
“Ultimately, it did not work because President Erdogan's schedule changed and could not meet the parameters that we laid down in the basis of the Secretary of State’s visit,” the diplomat said, stressing that both Pompeo and Turkish officials would like the meeting took place.
Answering the questions that the Turkish side could be offended by something, the diplomat said that the matter was in Erdogan's schedule. “I don’t think that the Turkish authorities … feel that they have been pushed away,” he added.
The spokesman for the State Department also acknowledged the existence of disagreements between Washington and Ankara regarding views on the situation in a number of regions, including the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya and Syria.
The crisis in relations between Turkey and the United States arose after the start of deliveries to Ankara of the latest Russian air defense systems S-400, which is why Washington has repeatedly threatened with sanctions against Turkey. According to Washington, Ankara's use of the S-400 falls under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
