US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will postpone his trip to Ukraine and the other four countries due to the need to continue monitoring the situation in Iraq, according to the State Department on Wednesday.
Morgan Ortagus, the department spokesperson said, “Secretary Pompeo must postpone his visit to Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Cyprus due to the need for the Secretary to be in Washington, to continue monitoring the ongoing situation in Iraq”.
Pompeo’s trip will be rescheduled in the near future, according to the statement.
Pompeo also said that the attack was “orchestrated by terrorists,” one of whom he named as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
The abrupt change came one day after hundreds of protesters stormed the US Embassy in Baghdad, mourning for the Hashd Shaabi members killed by a US attack in Iraq on Sunday. The incident has prompted the US to send additional troops to the Middle East.
Pompeo was slated to visit Ukraine ahead of President Trump’s trial in the Senate over allegations he sought to push Kiev to investigate a political rival.
On December 18, President Trump was impeached for abuse of power in a historic vote in the House of Representatives and set up a Senate trial on removing him from office after three turbulent years.
In September, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine had resigned following the release of a whistleblower complaint that alleged the President’s inappropriate interactions with his Ukrainian counterpart.