U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a speech at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/Pool

ATHENS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Ukraine inquiry a ‘silly gotcha game’ on Saturday.

“This is what’s wrong when the world doesn’t focus on the things that are right, the things that matter, the things that impact real people’s lives and instead you get caught up in some silly gotcha game.”

“You see, that’s not helpful, that doesn’t help democracies flourish,” said Pompeo, who is visiting Greece on the final leg of a tour of countries in southern Europe.

His response came when he was asked at the end of a speech whether there were any ‘red flags’ which required further investigation in a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in July.

“I don’t think anybody here is particularly interested in that...I think they want to know about the relationship between America and Greece.”

The July call is now the subject of a congressional investigation.