US Secretary of State John Kerry has met with the UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, as part of his maiden trip abroad as the US top diplomat. The 10-day voyage suggests that Kerry is more focused on the Europe and Middle East than his predecessor, experts say.

Kerry is expected to meet officials in Germany, France and Italy on bilateral ties and international cooperation following his stay in Britain. He is also to discuss France's intervention in Mali and participate in a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders in Rome.

He will then travel to Egypt to help reach a broader political consensus and push forward economic reforms, and to meet Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi on Middle East issues, among others.

The plan showed Kerry's willingness to bolster the US relationship with its European allies and also the willingness to tackle such big issues as the Syrian crisis and the nuclear issue of Iran, said experts.

While publicly supporting President Barack Obama's "Asia pivot" policy, Kerry is privately less enthusiastic about the "rebalance" than his predecessor Hillary Clinton, the US website Politico quoted a State Department adviser as saying, noting he is more interested in the contemporary hotspot issues of Syria and Iran and helping to broker a new trade pact with Europe.

Meanwhile, three experts from the US think-tank the Heritage Foundation co-wrote in an article that the Obama administration has not paid enough attention to the trans-Atlantic alliance in the past four years, and Kerry's trip to Europe would open up opportunities for the US to improve relations with these countries.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Xinhua News Agency that Kerry had made the right decision by focusing on the Middle East where problems are more serious than those in Asia.

Experts also said that Kerry aspires to a more central policymaking role in the Obama administration than Clinton because he views the job as the apex of his up-and-down political career.

Also, the 69-year-old Kerry's closer relationship with Obama's team means he can afford to be "more ambitious."

"He may well focus more intensely on the Middle East peace process and the negotiations that go into that," said Nina Hachigian, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Agencies — Global Times