Hunt's (center) success in securing a statement contrasted with the uncertain agenda of the U.S. organizers of the Middle East conference | Sean Gallup/Getty Images In Warsaw, UK builds support for Yemen ceasefire British foreign secretary puts focus on Yemen, as US officials visit military bases ahead of Middle East conference.

WARSAW — For some officials, the U.S.-sponsored conference on the Middle East is a risky junket – with the true purpose of the event unclear and potential outcomes unknown. U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt turned it into a serious business trip.

Hunt came to Warsaw on the condition that a meeting of the so-called Yemen Quad — the U.K., U.S., Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — would be held on the sidelines in a bid to bolster a fragile U.N.-sponsored ceasefire in the war-torn nation.

By all accounts, Hunt got what he came for.

A joint statement issued by the foreign ministers in attendance, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on highly practical and technical issues related to the continued implementation of the ceasefire as well as provision of humanitarian aid.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are supporters of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in his protracted fight against Houthi rebels.

In the statement, officials reiterated their push for a "comprehensive political solution" and to implementing a series of U.N. resolutions and related steps including redeployment of forces from the city of Hodeidah and several key ports.

Hunt's success in securing the statement contrasted with the uncertain agenda of the U.S. organizers of the Middle East conference. U.S. President Mike Pence paid a visit with Polish President Andrzej Duda to troops stationed at an air base in Powidz. Pompeo, meanwhile, paid a visit to a different military base in northeast Poland, before returning to Warsaw for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Powidz, Pence told U.S. and Polish troops that he was carrying a message of support for NATO from President Donald Trump.

"I’m here in Poland, and before the week is out I’ll travel to Munich ... to bring a message, on behalf of our president, to the people of Poland, and to freedom-loving people everywhere," Pence said. "And it's simply this: We are with you, we will stand with you, and the United States of America stands with Poland as a part of the most successful mutual defense alliance in the history of the world, and we always will."

"Under President Trump, the United States will always put the security and prosperity of America first," he continued. "But as the president has made clear, and as all of you demonstrate each and every day, America first does not mean America alone."

During joint press statements later in Warsaw, Pence and Duda expressed mutual admiration, and Duda said he is pursuing an earlier request for the establishment of a permanent American military base on Polish soil.

"I hope that our joint efforts aimed at increasing the presence of U.S. armed forces in Poland are going to bring effects soon," he said.

Pence praised Poland and also criticized Russia while boasting of Trump's efforts at containing aggression from Moscow.

"Moscow seeks to divide our alliance, with its oil and gas reserves, with its new arsenal of nuclear weapons, and with its efforts to meddle in elections across Europe and around the world," Pence said. "But in the face of these provocations, and in solidarity with Poland and our European partners, President Trump has done more to confront Russia’s actions than any president in modern history."

Pence also issued a warning to Russia. "Now, the Polish people need no lecture on the dangers of an aggressive Russia," he said. "And our neighbors to the east would do well not to underestimate the capabilities of our combined armed forces or to underestimate the indomitable will of the Polish people."