BEIRUT: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs Jeffrey Feltman resumed talks with Lebanese officials for the second day Thursday.

After meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at his residence in Ain el-Tineh, Beirut, Feltman headed to Clemenceau, near Downtown, for talks with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt.

No statements were made following the two meetings.

Jumblatt hosted lunch in honor of Feltman following talks in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly as well as the newly-elected PSP Secretary-General Zafer Nasser, PSP official Doreid Yaghi and PSP spokesman Rami Rayyes.

President Michel Sleiman refused to meet with Feltman, in a tit-for-tat move after U.S. officials declined to meet with the president when he was in Washington earlier this year.

The U.S. official is expected to meet with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai at 7 p.m. in Bkirki.

Feltman also met with Army commander General Jean Kahwagi in Yarze and discussed means to revive cooperation between the countries' armies especially reviving U.S. aid to Lebanon's army. Feltman, who arrived in Beirut Wednesday, is also scheduled to meet members of the March 14 coalition.

The U.S. official met Wednesday with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former Cabinet minister Nassib Lahoud, who heads the Democratic Renewal Movement.

Feltman praised Lebanon's decision to pay its share of funding for the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon as “a very positive sign” for the international community, saying Wednesday that Washington would support the Lebanese Army to secure its borders with its neighbors.

But he also voiced U.S. concerns that the current turmoil in Syria could lead to instability in Lebanon or other countries.

His talks focused on the political and security situation in Lebanon, developments in Syria, and other regional issues, according to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy Wednesday.

“Ambassador Feltman underscored the U.S. Administration’s support to strengthening Lebanon and Lebanon’s institutions, including the Lebanese Armed Forces, recognizing its importance in serving as Lebanon’s sole legitimate defense force, securing Lebanon’s borders and defending the sovereignty and independence of the state,” the embassy statement added.

There have been repeated incidents of cross-border incursions by the Syrian army into Lebanon during the Syrian government’s eight-month crackdown on protesters. The incidents have been condemned by the United States.

There have also been reports of the smuggling of arms and fighters across the Lebanese border into Syria to aid protesters against the crackdown launched by Syrian security forces.