In Europe, Pence says US will hold Russia accountable, backs Nato
>> MUNICH: Vice-President Mike Pence vowed yesterday that the United States will “hold Russia accountable” even as President Donald Trump searches for new common ground with Moscow at the start of his presidency.
Mr Pence, in an address to the Munich Security Conference, also offered assurances to European allies that the US “strongly supports” Nato. He said the US would be “unwavering” in its commitment to trans-Atlantic institutions like Nato.
In his first overseas trip as vice president, Mr Pence sought to calm nervous European allies who remain concerned about Russian aggression and have been alarmed by Mr Trump’s positive statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin. The address to foreign diplomats and security officials also sought to reassure international partners who worry Mr Trump may pursue isolationist tendencies.
Mr Pence said the US would demand that Russia honour a 2015 peace deal agreed upon in Minsk, Belarus, aimed at ending violence in eastern Ukraine.
“Know this: The United States will continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we search for new common ground which as you know President Trump believes can be found,” Mr Pence said.
Mr Pence met afterwards with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who addressed the conference just before the vice-president. Ms Merkel stressed the need to maintain international alliances and told the audience, with Mr Pence seated a few feet away, that Nato is “in the American interest”.
Mr Pence also scheduled meetings yesterday with the leaders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko — countries dealing with the threat of Russian incursion — along with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
The visit, which will include a stop in Brussels today and tomorrow, comes amid worries in Europe about Russian aggression, Mr Trump’s relationship with Mr Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies through his “America First” mantra.
“The vice-president has sent reassuring messages through his own engagement but that hasn’t been enough to dispel the concerns that you see in many parts of Europe,” says Jeff Rathke, a senior fellow with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “There are such grave challenges that the US and Europe faces that it only heightens the desire for additional clarity from Washington.”
Mr Pence’s stature within the administration was also under scrutiny because of the recent dismissal of Mr Trump’s national security adviser, retired Gen Michael Flynn. Mr Flynn was forced to resign on Monday following reports he misled Mr Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat, which the vice-president learned about through media accounts about two weeks after the president was informed.
Mr Pence is also expected to meet with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the US is embroiled in two separate wars. Mr Trump has made clear his intention to defeat the Islamic State group. But he also said the US may get a second chance to take Iraqi oil as compensation for its efforts in the war-torn country, a notion rebuffed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who will be meeting with the vice president.
Mr Trump’s immigration and refugee ban has ruffled feathers with a number of Muslim-majority countries affected by the order currently tied up in court, including Iraq — a close ally in the fight against the IS.
In Munich, the US allies were searching for clues from Mr Pence as to how the Mr Trump administration plans to deal with Russia in the aftermath of Mr Flynn’s departure, US inquiries into Russia’s involvement in the presidential election and Mr Trump’s past praise for Mr Putin.