Washington • With the Trump administration next week hosting what is believed to be the largest, highest-level gathering to date on the issue of international religious freedom, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday framed President Donald Trump’s recent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose country is considered among the world’s worst violators of religious liberty — as part of a strategy.
The United States is “hopeful that the engagement” Trump has had will “begin to turn this in the right direction,” Pompeo said Thursday morning during a call with reporters.