US: Pompeo meets UN envoy for Syria

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Wednesday with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Washington.

The meeting tackled Syria, during which Pompeo and de Mistura agreed that all parties in the war-torn country “needed to move ahead on the political track,” said a statement by the State Department.

According to the statement, the two men also agreed “that any discussion of reconstruction was premature absent a political solution leading unalterably to both constitutional reform and free and fair elections”.

The meeting came amid fears of a potential offensive by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime in Idlib.

Pompeo and de Mistura also stressed the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis from emerging in Idlib.

“Secretary Pompeo made clear that while the United States supports the return of refugees to Syria, it must only occur when the environment in Syria is sufficiently safe and secure and with the involvement of relevant UN agencies,” said the statement.