Kerry Urges Britain and EU to Cooperate to Calm Markets

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Britain and the European Union to work together to calm markets as he headed to Brussels and London on an unplanned trip prompted by the surprise result of the U.K.’s referendum.

Speaking in Rome, Kerry reaffirmed America’s "special relationship" with the U.K. and spoke of "how important the relationship of Europe, the EU, is to the United States," according to an Associated Press transcript of remarks he made Sunday in Rome in an appearance with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

"The most important thing is that all of us, as leaders, work together to provide as much continuity, as much stability, as much certainty as possible in order for the marketplace to understand that there are ways to minimize disruption, there are ways to smartly move ahead in order to protect the values and interests that we share in common," Kerry said.

Kerry is in Rome for a previously scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Monday he is set to meet the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vernon Silver in Rome at vtsilver@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Blau at rblau1@bloomberg.net, Cindy Roberts, Steve Geimann