The US Secretary of State was angry, even swearing after an interview when asked questions about Ukraine, according to NPR.

The incident took place on January 23 in an interview with reporter Mary Louise Kelly of NPR radio with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The interview revolved around how the US dealt with Iran, but the conversation quickly became strained when Kelly questioned Ukraine and accused US President Donald Trump of being dismissed.

Pompeo is a loyal ally of Trump, once accused of abandoning former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Yovanovitch was abruptly dismissed in May 2019 on grounds of disloyalty to Trump. However, the former ambassador denied this and said it was a "smear campaign" led by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer.

"Do you owe to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch an apology?" Kelly asked. The US Secretary of State was annoyed and said he had "protected all State Department officials". Kelly tried to ask more questions about Yovanovitch but did not get the answer.

"I said everything I need to say today. Thank you," Pompeo said, concluding the interview. Kelly thanked the US Secretary of State, saying he did not respond but glared at her before leaving the room.

However, things have not stopped here. A State Department employee then invited Kelly to Pompeo's private room and asked her not to bring the tape recorder.

"Pompeo was waiting inside. He scolded me with the whole interview, even swearing many times. He was not happy to be asked questions about Ukraine and asked me 'do you think Americans interested in Ukraine or not? '", Kelly recalls.

The US Secretary of State also asked the adviser to bring a map of the world without country names, then asked Kelly to point to the position of Ukraine. "I'm just right Ukraine and he put the map away," the NPR correspondent added.