Pompeo dives in at NATO on 1st trip as top US diplomat

BRUSSELS – Newly minted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hitting the ground running at NATO on his first trip abroad as America's top diplomat.

Just hours after being sworn in, Pompeo flew to Brussels where the alliance's foreign ministers are meeting Friday to prepare a leaders' summit in July.

A senior U.S. official says Pompeo's aim is to ensure that NATO maintains a unified position of "no business as usual" with Russia and to prod members to meet their commitments to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. The ministers will hold sessions on Russia, Afghanistan and NATO's "open door policy" for accepting new members.

In addition, Pompeo will have separate talks with the foreign ministers of Italy and Turkey.