Vice President Mike Pence
Russia must honor ’15 deal on Ukraine conflict, he says
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet Saturday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Pence told allies the Trump administration will be “unwavering” in its support for NATO and “hold Russia accountable.”
MUNICH — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday conveyed a message to jittery partners that President Donald Trump’s administration will “hold Russia accountable” and maintain steadfast support for NATO, a military alliance the American commander in chief once dismissed as “obsolete.”
In his overseas debut as vice president, Pence told the audience at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomats and defense officials, that the U.S. would be “unwavering” in its commitment to NATO and that Trump would “stand with Europe.” Pence pointed to their shared “noble ideals — freedom, democracy, justice and the rule of law.”
“Your struggles are our struggles. Your success is our success,” Pence said. “And ultimately, we walk into the future together.”
Addressing the violence in Ukraine, Pence said the U.S. would demand that Russia honor a 2015 deal to end violence in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists. He did not mention findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in last year’s presidential election to help Trump win the White House.
“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,” Pence said.
Pence’s address and a series of one-on-one meetings with world leaders along the sidelines sought to calm nervous European allies who remain concerned about Russian aggression, including its annexation of Crimea. Many have been alarmed by Trump’s positive statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pence’s speech aimed to reassure international partners who worry that Trump may pursue isolationist tendencies.
After his speech, Pence met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called for the maintenance of international alliances and told the audience, with Pence seated nearby, that NATO is “in the American interest.”
Merkel, speaking before Pence, told him and other leaders that “acting together strengthens everyone.”
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, told the conference after Pence’s speech that Russia wanted “pragmatic relations” with the U.S. He said he hoped that “responsible leaders” would choose to create a “just world order; if you want you can call it a post-West world order.”
Poland’s Foreign Minister Antoni Macierewicz welcomed Pence’s reassurances. “This is good news for Poland and the Baltics,” he said, adding that “we hope that the U.S. will increase its military presence in Poland. It should be done.”
European countries along Russia’s border are rattled by the prospect of deeper U.S.-Russia ties after Trump suggested — contrary to the opinions of Merkel and other world leaders — that sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea could be eased in exchange for a nuclear weapons deal. The president referred to NATO as “obsolete” in an interview before his inauguration but has since tempered his language and has stressed the importance of the alliance during telephone conversations with foreign leaders.
But mindful that the new U.S. president often makes announcements on Twitter, some attendees remained skeptical that the speech represented Trump’s thinking and said his foreign policy moves would be closely watched.
“We are waiting for actions,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda. “We only know what the media has reported and the statements that we’ve got. Now we are waiting for actions of the new government of Donald Trump.”
Wrote U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on Twitter: “Looks like we have 2 governments. VP just gave speech about shared values [between] US and Europe as POTUS openly wages war on those values.”
Pence’s lack of mention of the European Union, whose unraveling Trump has praised, also unsettled European leaders. Pence travels to Brussels today for meetings with senior EU officials.
The uncertainty manifested itself in a host of ways, none larger than an initiative from German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to reinvigorate the European Union so that it is capable of standing apart from the United States.
“In all of these conflicts, we always relied on the American government to solve the problems, to find a way,” Gabriel said. “And if we didn’t like it, we could always criticize the government of the United States. But we ourselves have been reluctant to interfere.”
Gabriel added that “we should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst” from the United States.
But the proposal was shot down by other leaders, who said that any steps that would degrade the trans-Atlantic alliance would be dangerous and counterproductive.
Still, many European officials said that Trump is such a challenge to Europe that they cannot just hope to muddle through for the next four years.
“Our problem is not really Trump. Our problem is that Trump exposes our weaknesses and gaps,” said one European diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
In his remarks, Pence also reinforced the Trump administration’s message that NATO members must spend more on defense.
NATO’s 28 member countries committed in 2014 to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade. But only the U.S. and four other members of the post-World War II military coalition are meeting the standard, Pence said.
Failure to meet the commitment, he said, “erodes the very foundation of our alliance.”
“Let me be clear on this point: The president of the United States expects our allies to keep their word, to fulfill this commitment and, for most, that means the time has come to do more,” Pence said.
Pence also sat down with the leaders of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and separately with the president of Ukraine — all countries dealing with the threat of Russian incursion. The vice president also met with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, and he scheduled a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
After his meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Pence’s office said, the vice president “underscored U.S. support” for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and underlined that the U.S. does not recognize “Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation” of Crimea.
Poroshenko’s office said his country “received a powerful signal that the U.S. stands with Ukraine, that Ukraine is among the top priorities for the new U.S. administration.”