Pence: US ‘will hold Russia accountable’

Associated Press
United States Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. (AP)

MUNICH: Vice President Mike Pence says the United States will “hold Russia accountable” even as President Donald Trump searches for new common ground with Russia at the start of his presidency.
Pence says at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that with regard to Ukraine, the international community must hold Russia accountable and demand that it honor a 2015 peace agreement aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists.
He’s offering assurances of the US commitment to NATO and the European Union in remarks at an international conference of foreign diplomats and defense officials.
Pence’s speech comes amid concerns in Europe about Russian aggression and Trump’s positive statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin.