U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo greets Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu before their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Turkey could easily clear northern Syria’s Manbij of the Kurdish YPG militia if the United States failed to do so, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the airport in Ankara following a meeting with Pompeo, Mevlut Cavusoglu said the United States accepted that the agreement with Turkey to clear Manbij of the YPG had been delayed. Erdogan met Pompeo earlier in the day.