Page 20 - Baltic Countries News Today

Thats not directly related to the nato operation. as we speak, secretary-general, russia is sending thousands of troops to the borders with several baltic nations. estonia, latvia, lithuania, all nato member countries. russias planned military exercises next month. do you see this as a military buildup? are you concerned about whats going on along these borders? >> we dont see any imminent trouble against any nato ally, including against any of the baltic states, but we have seen exercises as pa...

That john mclauchlin mentioned, his annexation of crimea, the division of eastern ukraine by the eastern forces, threat to the baltic allies. the europeans dont always agree with us, but they want the united states to defend them, to be with them, and they didnt get that. and its a sad day. when most people on both sides think of angela merkel, i think would have lost credibility and this trip, this was a very rocky and i think poor day for the united states at nato and at the e.u. >> what do yo...

Assure you having been in latvia, are very nervous about what russia is up to. i think they were looking for an affirmation that, a, the president understands all of this, and, b, is supportive along the lines i just mentioned. nato is in the midst of its largest forward deployment since the end of the cold war with separate battalions in the three baltic countries and in poland. more than 20 nato countries have been involved with us in afghanistan. so, im sure they were hoping to hear his views...

The alliance, and we are now deploying four battle groups to the three baltic countries and poland, and theres also been more u.s. forces in that part of europe, and this is the first time in many, many years that we see an increase in the military presence of the united states in europe. so we are increasing our presence, and were also increasing the readiness and the preparedness of our norses so that we can quickly reinforce, if needed. we consider the presence that well have in when the four...

Alliance and were now deploying four battle groups to the three baltic countries and poland and also been more u.s. forces in that part of europe and this is the first time in many, many years that we see an increase in the military presence of the united states in europe. so we are inkprecreasing our presence and were also increasing the readiness and the prepa preparedness of forces to quickly reinforce if needed. we consider the presence we will have when the four battle groups are in place a...

Other democracy, france and germany. with regard to the baltic countries and ukraine, their actions in syria, theyre doing to help iran, theres plenty of reasons for us to have a very candid discussion about how we can be better partners. but in the meantime, they have to on their side make changes in their approach. our national security has been put at risk by some of the actions they have taken and we need to be candid about that. >> do you think they will be amenable to that? >> i would hope...

Clear warning to russia to stick to eastern ukraine and-- >> with regard to ukraine we must hold russia accountable and demand that they honor the minsk agreement by ending violence in ukraine. >> the vice-president went on to meet leaders from baltic countries who are nervous about the prospect of a more powerful russia and held a one-on-one meeting with angela merkel. the white house says the two leaders talked about those commitments to n.a.t.o. and the conference in ukraine as well as afghan...

Mexico what mr. trump has said about russia. this is about u.s. foreign policy which should not be partisan and great concern what he is doing could weaken americas national security. we are looked upon by the free world as the leader. if we start promising our values for transactional politic, that is going to be bad news for freedom around the world. >> well, definitely it creates an unnecessary division between the united states and our allies on key issues which we just dont need at this poi...

Russia. do you feel you will be able to convince him to take a harder line against putin? f >> i certainly hope othersta around him can. i know how general mattis feels. i know how general flynn feels. i know how even mr. tillerson feels. look, we cannot reward misbehavior. we have to go back to ronald reagan, peace through strength, get strong, and then deal with them. that way is the only way we can do it. >> bill: if trump lifts sanctions, youre not going to be real pleased? >> i am going to ...

Donald trump at this point is russia. do you feel you will be able to convince them to take a harder line against putin? >> i certainly hope people around him can. i know how general mattis feels. i know how general flynn feels. i know how even mr. tillerson feels. look, we cannot reward of misbehavior. we have to go back to ronald reagan, peace through strength, get strong, and then deal with them. that way is the only way we can do it. >> bill: if trump lift sanctions, you want to be real plea...