Future of the West at stake: Trump US Prez says Russia, others ‘ may have meddled in polls’

US President Donald Trump pledged his support for Nato at the start of a high- stakes visit to Europe on Thursday as he warned that the future of the West was at risk.

In Poland on the first leg of the trip, he also accused Russia of “destabilising” action and warned North Korea it faced “consequences” after an intercontinental ballistic missile test that has alarmed the international community.

On the eve of what is likely to be a prickly G- 20 summit, with Mr Trump Warsaw: US President Donald Trump conceded on Wednesday that Russia may have interfered in the 2016 election that brought him to power, but said other countries may also have been involved. “I’ve said it very simply. I think it could very well have been Russia. I think it could well have been other countries. I won’t

facing animosity from traditional US allies, he used his keynote address be specific. But I think a lot of people interfere,” Mr Trump said during a visit to Warsaw. “Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure,” he said, challenging US intelligence agencies which suspect Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated a campaign to tilt the polls in Mr Trump’s favour. PAGE 10

in Warsaw to warn that a lack of collective resolve could doom an alliance that endured through the Cold War. “The defence of the West ultimately rests not only on means, but also on the will of its people to prevail,” he said, adding, “The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive.”

Seeking to ease allies’ concerns about the US commitment to Nato, Mr Trump endorsed its oneforall- and- all- for- one mutual defence pact, saying, “The United States has demonstrated not merely with words, but with its actions, that we stand firmly behind Article Five,” he said.