You're reading: Stoltenberg avoids question on Trump’s Russia ties, expresses confidence in US

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg dodged a Kyiv Post question on Feb. 14 about U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s Russian ties, signaling that he wants to avoid confrontation with the White House and take encouragement from the pro-NATO stance of other U.S. officials.

At a NATO headquarters doorstep press briefing with Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, the Kyiv Post asked: “Do you think that Russia has compromising information on President Donald Trump? If yes, what can be done about it? If no, how do you explain his pro-Putin positions and his continued misunderstanding of Russia’s war against Ukraine?”

Stoltenberg answered by confidently emphasizing the positives in the U.S.-NATO relationship.

“I am absolutely certain that the United States will stay committed to NATO, to the transatlantic bond but also to the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all European states including Ukraine,” Stoltenberg replied. “And I’m looking forward to welcoming the Secretary of Defense, Secretary (James) Mattis, here tomorrow and the reason why NATO now is increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the alliance is the aggressive actions against Ukraine by Russia, illegally annexing Crimea and destabilizing eastern Ukraine.”

The former Norwegian prime minister went on to say: “And also, I have also seen that in the United Nations the United States has expressed strong support for Ukraine and also support for the economic sanctions. I have spoken to President Trump twice and the message has been that he is very committed to NATO, that he would like to see more defense spending but also that he is supportive of the NATO dual track approach to Russia. Meaning that as long as we are strong, as long as we invest in our defense and our deterrence we can also engage in a political dialogue with Russia. So I don’t see any contradiction between being in favour of dialogue with Russia, having open channels with Russia, meeting Russians and exploring how we can avoid tensions to increase and exploring how we can strive for a more cooperative relationship and at the same time being committed to NATO and to our collective security. That’s the NATO position and that’s also the position that President Trump has conveyed to me in my conversations with him.”

Despite Trump’s pro-Kremlin views, the Lithuanian prime minister also expressed confidence in America’s support for the ex-Soviet republic.

“Lithuania has always trusted the United States and we don’t have any grounds for having doubts with this long term standing cooperation and trust,”  Skvernelis said.

In response to another question, Stoltenberg said that “we don’t see any imminent threat against any NATO ally and NATO of course always stands ready to defend all allies against any threat.”

The transcript of the press conference is here.