Trump ‘unwavering’ in commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance: Pence

Vice President Mike Pence, center, his wife Karen, second from left, and his daughter Charlotte, left, are lead by Holocaust survivor Abba Naor, as they visit the former Nazi concentration camp in Dachau near Munich, Germany.

Vice President Mike Pence today said he was “disappointed” that former U.S.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has made it clear he wants to work with Putin in fighting Isis in Iraq and Syria.

He called the transatlantic bond “as strong as I’ve ever seen it”, and stressed America remained “rock solid” in its support of Article 5 – Nato’s core collective-defence tenet that says an attack on any country will be met by a response from the alliance.

“America will do our part, but we expect our allies to keep their word and do more in our common defense”, Pence said.

He also promised to “hold Russian Federation accountable” when it comes to defending the integrity of the region’s smaller states, and insisted that Russian Federation stick to the “Minsk Agreements”, that were supposed to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“We will stand with Europe”, Pence said.

European leaders finally exhaled Monday after Vice President Mike Pence told them that the USA still shares its values and doesn’t want to break it up. “But not a word on the European Union”.

“I feel that it was heard”, he said.

One member of the US delegation summed up Pence’s dilemma.

“They have all conveyed the same message, that the United States is firmly committed to the transatlantic partnership and have unwavering support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance”, Stoltenberg said.

At a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday in Brussels, Pence reiterated the Trump administration’s position “that for too long, for too many” the burden of paying for NATO has ‘not been shared fairly among our NATO allies.

Now Mr Pence has done so, importantly in the home of the EU’s institutions, standing side by side with Mr Tusk and Mr Juncker. Trump has previously dismissed McCain’s war record. He said that Trump believes they can be found.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told me he doesn’t know what the administration’s positions are and so it’s hard for the congressional delegation to represent them to the European officials in meetings. “Pence is trying, so there’s some real effort to reassure our allies”.

Other leaders have been more critical; French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently slammed a travel on citizens from seven largely Muslim countries. She said a more unsafe world required more effort to bolster multilateral structures, not less. “We have to strengthen them”, Ms. Merkel said in a speech that she delivered immediately before Mr. Pence’s.