Tag Archives: NATO

Russia may be helping supply Taliban insurgents: U.S. general

Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti speaks during a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. general in Europe said on Thursday that he had seen Russian influence on Afghan Taliban insurgents growing and raised the possibility that Moscow was helping supply the militants, whose reach is expanding in southern Afghanistan.

“I’ve seen the influence of Russia of late – increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban,” Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is also NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

He did not elaborate on what kinds of supplies might be headed to the Taliban or how direct Russia’s role might be.

Moscow has been critical of the United States over its handling of the war in Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union fought a bloody and disastrous war of its own in the 1980s.

But Russian officials have denied they provide aid to the insurgents, who are contesting large swaths of territory and inflicting heavy casualties, and say their limited contacts are aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

According to U.S. estimates, government forces control less than 60 percent of Afghanistan, with almost half the country either contested or under control of the insurgents, who are seeking to reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

Underlying the insurgents’ growing strength, Taliban fighters have captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials said on Thursday.

The top U.S. commander in the country, General John Nicholson, said last month that Afghanistan was in a “stalemate” and that thousands more international troops would be needed to boost the existing NATO-led training and advisory mission.

Scaparrotti said the stakes were high. More than 1,800 American troops have been killed in fighting since the war began in 2001.

“NATO and the United States, in my view, must win in Afghanistan,” he said.

Taliban officials have told Reuters that the group has had significant contacts with Moscow since at least 2007, adding that Russian involvement did not extend beyond “moral and political support.”

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April – sources

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks in Washington. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Arshad Mohammed and John Walcott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China’s president and will go to Russia later in April, U.S. officials said on Monday, disclosing an itinerary that allies may see as giving Moscow priority over them.

Tillerson intends to miss what would have been his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies on April 5-6 in Brussels so that he can attend President Donald Trump’s expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said.

Skipping the NATO meeting and visiting Moscow could risk feeding a perception that Trump may be putting U.S. dealings with big powers first, while leaving waiting those smaller nations that depend on Washington for security, two former U.S. officials said.

Trump has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tillerson worked with Russia’s government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm U.S. businesses.

A State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would meet on Wednesday with foreign ministers from 26 of the 27 other NATO countries — all but Croatia — at a gathering of the coalition working to defeat the Islamic State militant group.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to have arrived in Washington on Monday for a three-day visit that was to include talks with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and to take part in the counter-Islamic State meetings.

The State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would not have a separate, NATO-focused meeting the 26 foreign ministers in Washington but rather that they would meet in the counter-Islamic State talks.

“After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” she added, saying U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon would represent the United States at the NATO foreign ministers meeting.

‘GRAVE ERROR’

Representative Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said that Tillerson was making a mistake by skipping the Brussels talks.

“Donald Trump’s Administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America’s most important alliance and feed the concern that this Administration simply too cozy with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” Engel said in a written statement.

“I cannot fathom why the Administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy’s most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin,” he added.

A former U.S. official echoed the view.

“It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsie with Russia,” said the former U.S. official on condition of anonymity.

“You don’t want to do your early business with the world’s great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and NATO is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies,” he added.

Any Russian visit by a senior Trump administration official may be carefully scrutinized after the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday publicly confirmed his agency was investigating any collusion between the Russian government and Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign.

Trump has already worried NATO allies by referring to the Western security alliance as “obsolete” and by pressing other members to meet their commitments to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Last week, he dismayed British officials by shrugging off a media report, forcefully denied by Britain, that the administration of former President Barack Obama tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race with the aid of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency.

A former U.S. official and a former NATO diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance offered to change the meeting dates so Tillerson could attend it and the Xi Jinping talks but the State Department had rebuffed the idea.

The former diplomat said it was vital to present a united front toward Moscow. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union.

“Given the challenge that Russia poses, not just to the United States but to Europe, it’s critical to engage on the basis of a united front if at all possible,” the diplomat said.

(Additional Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Lisa Shumaker & Simon Cameron-Moore)

New U.S.-led force to deter Russia in Poland with NATO

U.S. (R to L), Poland's flags and jack of the President of Poland are seen during the inauguration ceremony of bilateral military training between U.S. and Polish troops in Zagan, Poland,

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A U.S.-led battalion of more than 1,100 soldiers will be deployed in Poland from the start of April, a U.S. commander said on Monday, as the alliance sets up a new force in response to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

More than 900 U.S. soldiers, around 150 British personnel and some 120 Romanian troops will make up the battlegroup in northeastern Poland, one of four multinational formations across the Baltic region that Russia has condemned as an aggressive strategy on its frontiers.

“This is a mission, not a cycle of training events,” U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Steven Gventer, who heads the battlegroup, told a news conference. “The purpose is to deter aggression in the Baltics and in Poland … We are fully ready to be lethal.”

Britain, Canada and Germany are leading the other three battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are due to be operational by June. They will have support from a series of NATO nations including France.

In total, some 4,000 NATO troops – equipped with tanks, armored vehicles, air support and hi-tech mission information rooms – will monitor for and defend against any potential Russian incursions.

Moscow, which denies having any expansionist or aggressive agenda, accuses NATO of trying to destabilize central Europe and has respond by forming four new military divisions to strengthen its western and central regions and stepping up exercises.

Seeking to avoid stationing troops permanently on Russia’s borders, the new NATO force across the Baltics and Poland can rely on a network of eight small NATO outposts in the region, regular training exercises and, in the case of attack, a much larger force of 40,000 alliance troops.

“We are not the entirety of NATO’s response,” said U.S. Army Major Paul Rothlisberger, part of the U.S.-led battalion to be based in Orzysz, 220 kilometers (137 miles) northeast of Warsaw.

The alliance is seeking to show the ex-Soviet countries in NATO that they are protected from the kind of annexation Russia orchestrated in February in 2014 in Ukraine’s Crimea.

It also wants to avoid a return to the Cold War, when the United States had some 300,000 service personnel stationed in Europe, and stick to a 1997 agreement with Moscow not to permanently station forces on the Russian border.

The plan is being implemented as Western powers try for a peace settlement in eastern Ukraine, where NATO says Russia supports separatist rebels with weapons and troops.

Russia plans to stage large-scale war games near its western borders this year, but has not said how many troops will take part.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Trump, Germany’s Merkel to hold first face-to-face meeting at White House

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a statement at the Chancellery in Berlin. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

By Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday for a White House meeting that could help determine the future of the transatlantic alliance and shape the working relationship between two of the world’s most powerful leaders.

The new U.S. president and the long-serving stateswoman, whose country is Europe’s largest economy, will discuss funding for NATO and relations with Russia in their first meeting since Trump took office in January.

The meeting is consequential for both sides.

Merkel, who officials say has prepared carefully for the encounter, is likely to press Trump for assurances of support for a strong European Union and a commitment to fight climate change.

Trump, who as a presidential candidate criticized Merkel for allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany, will seek her support for his demand that North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations pay more for their defense needs.

Relationship building will be a less overt but important agenda item. Merkel had close relations with Trump’s Democratic and Republican predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and she is likely to seek a strong working relationship with Trump despite major policy differences and wariness in Germany about the former New York businessman.

“Those who know the chancellor know that she has a knack for winning over people in personal discussions. I am sure that Donald Trump will not be immune,” said Juergen Hardt, a conservative lawmaker who helps coordinate transatlantic relations for the German government.

Trump is eager to see follow-through on his demand that European countries shoulder more of the burden of paying for the NATO alliance, which he has criticized.

He will also seek counsel from Merkel on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leader Merkel has dealt with extensively and whom Trump, to the consternation of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, has praised.

“The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor’s views on her experience interacting with Putin,” a senior administration official told reporters.

CLIMATE ACCORD

A U.S. official said the Trump administration’s position on U.S. participation in the Paris agreement to curb climate change would likely come up in the Merkel meeting and be further clarified in the weeks and months ahead. Merkel is a strong supporter of international efforts to fight global warming.

Trump has called climate change a hoax and vowed during his campaign to “cancel” the Paris agreement within 100 days, saying it would be too costly for the U.S. economy.

Since being elected, he has been mostly quiet on the issue. In a New York Times interview in November, he said he would keep an open mind about the Paris deal.

Merkel is also likely to press Trump about U.S. support for European security, despite assurances from Vice President Mike Pence about that issue on his recent trip to Europe.

“There is still lingering doubt about … how the U.S. sees European security, and whether the U.S. sees its security and Europe’s security as intrinsically linked and inseparable,” Jeffrey Rathke, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by Peter Cooney)

NATO head urges Turkey, Austria to resolve dispute

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg delivers his speech during the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Austria and Turkey on Friday to resolve a diplomatic dispute that has led to some cooperation programs being blocked.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has withdrawn from some alliance participation – mostly military training – saying the move is aimed only at Austria.

“It is a very unfortunate situation and it means some cooperation programs can’t be launched,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to the Danish capital Copenhagen.

Austria, which is not a NATO member but cooperates with the alliance, led calls last year to halt Turkey’s European Union accession talks. Vienna has also spoken out against Turkish politicians holding rallies in European countries.

“It’s a bilateral situation between Turkey and Austria and we strongly urge them to solve it, so that it won’t have negative consequences for the cooperation,” he said.

The diplomatic tensions predate a current escalation with other European countries like Germany and Netherlands but as fellow NATO members Turkey cannot block cooperation with them.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has compared Germany and the Netherlands to fascists and Nazis for stopping Turkish politicians from rallying to promote a referendum granting him sweeping new powers.

Erdogan on Thursday said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had lost the friendship of Ankara after the diplomatic row.

NATO officials told Reuters that the blocking also affected other countries that cooperate with the alliance but are not members.

Separately, Austrian tabloid newspaper Oesterreich said its website was brought down on Friday morning by a cyber attack “from Turkey”, the latest in a series of similar incidents that appear to be connected to Vienna’s spat with Ankara.

It did not present evidence to support the accusation.

“The Turkish cyber attack on our website was launched out of anger by Erdogan’s cadres because oe24 and Oesterreich report critically and independently on Erdogan and his policies,” the newspaper said in an article.

(Reporting by Teis Jensen in Copenhagen, additional reporting by François Murphy in Vienna writing by Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Gareth Jones and Julia Glover)

Turkey says EU exercising democracy selectively, wrong to stand by Netherlands

Demonstrators gather to welcome the Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, who decided to travel to Rotterdam by land after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's flight was barred from landing by the Dutch government, in Rotterdam, Netherlands March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said the European Union was exercising democratic values selectively and that it should not be standing by the Netherlands, which it accused of violating human rights and European values.

Ankara has suspended high-level diplomatic relations after Dutch authorities prevented its ministers from speaking at rallies of expatriate Turks, worsening a row between the NATO allies.

In a joint statement on Monday, EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn called on Turkey to refrain from “excessive statements” to avoid further escalating the dispute.

“EU counterparts are exercising democratic values and basic rights and freedoms selectively,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “It is very grave for the EU to hide behind member country solidarity and stand by the Netherlands, which has clearly violated human rights and European values,” it said.

Mogherini and Hahn’s statement included “inaccurate assessments”, the foreign ministry said.

“It should be understood that the EU’s statement… actually helps the cause of extremes such as xenophobia and anti-Turkish sentiment,” it said.

President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking Turkish voters’ support in an April 16 referendum on boosting his powers as head of state, had accused the Dutch government of acting like “Nazi remnants” for barring his ministers.

The sanctions include the banning of the Dutch ambassador and diplomatic flights from the Netherlands. They do not appear to include economic measures or travel restrictions for ordinary citizens.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday said that the sanctions were “not too bad” but were inappropriate as the Dutch have more to be angry about.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Daren Butler and David Dolan)

Dutch PM bars Turkish foreign minister in escalation of rally row

An outside view of the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands, March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Thomas Escritt

ANKARA/ROTTERDAM (Reuters) – The Netherlands barred Turkey’s foreign minister from landing in Rotterdam on Saturday in a row over Ankara’s political campaigning among Turkish emigres, and President Tayyip Erdogan retaliated, branding his NATO partner a “Nazi remnant”.

The extraordinary incident came hours after Mevlut Cavusoglu declared he would fly to Rotterdam despite being banned from a rally there to marshal support for sweeping new powers Erdogan seeks. Europe, he said, must be rid of its “boss-like attitude”.

Cavusoglu, who was barred from a similar meeting in Hamburg last week but spoke instead from the Turkish consulate, accused the Dutch of treating the many Turkish citizens in the country like “hostages”, cutting them off from Ankara.

“I sent them so they could contribute to your economy,” he told CNN Turk TV, days ahead of Dutch polls where immigration may play a significant part. “They’re not your captives.”

“If my going will increase tensions, let it be…I am a foreign minister and I can go wherever I want,” he added hours before his planned flight to Rotterdam was banned.

Cavusoglu threatened harsh economic and political sanctions if the Dutch refused him entry, a threat that proved decisive for the Netherlands government.

It cited public order and security concerns in withdrawing landing rights for Cavusoglu’s flight. But it said the sanctions threat made the search for a reasonable solution impossible.

Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, polling second ahead of elections on Wednesday in the Netherlands, said in a tweet on Saturday: “To all Turks in the Netherlands who agree with Erdogan: Go to Turkey and NEVER come back!!”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “This morning on TV (the Turkish minister) made clear he was threatening the Netherlands with sanctions and we can never negotiate with the Turks under such threats. So we decided…in a conference call it was better for him not to come.”

SPILLOVER FEAR

Four planned Turkish rallies in Austria and one in Switzerland have also been canceled in the dispute.

“Listen Netherlands, you’ll jump once, you’ll jump twice, but my people will thwart your game,” Erdogan said at a rally. “You can cancel our foreign minister’s flight as much as you want, but let’s see how your flights come to Turkey now.

“They don’t know diplomacy or politics. They are Nazi remnants. They are fascists.”

Dutch Prime Minister Rutte called his reference to Nazis and Fascists “a crazy remark of course”.

“I understand they’re angry but this is of course way out of line.”

Erdogan chafes at Western criticism of his mass arrests and dismissals of people authorities believe were linked to a failed July attempt by the military to topple him. He maintains it is clear the West begrudges him new powers and seeks to engineer a “no” vote in the referendum.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country Erdogan compared last week with Nazi Germany, has said she will do everything possible to prevent any spillover of Turkish political tensions onto German soil.

Cavusoglu said Turks in Germany were under systematic pressure from police and intelligence services.

Erdogan is looking to the large number of emigre Turks living in Europe, especially Germany and the Netherlands, to help clinch victory in next month’s referendum which will shape the future of a country whose position on the edge of the Middle East makes it of crucial strategic importance to NATO.

He has cited domestic threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants and a July coup bid as cause to vote “yes” to his new powers. But he has also drawn on the emotionally charged row with Europe to portray Turkey as betrayed by allies while facing wars on its southern borders. All, again, cause to back strong leadership.

(Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Alexander Smith and Toby Chopra)

Turkey accuses Germany of aiding its enemies, as row escalates

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R) is pictured wit Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag during the International Istanbul Law Congress in Istanbul, October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File

By Tulay Karadeniz

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish leaders condemned Germany on Friday for cancelling rallies of Turkish residents due to be addressed by Ankara’s ministers and accused Berlin of giving “shelter” to Turkey’s enemies.

As the diplomatic spat between the two countries became increasingly angry, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said a German journalist being held in Turkey was a “German agent” and a member of an armed Kurdish militant group.

A source in Germany’s foreign ministry on Friday night told Reuters those accusations were “absurd”.

Earlier, comments in Berlin by Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, who had been scheduled to address a meeting in the southwestern town of Gaggenau until it was canceled on Thursday, reflected a broader souring of relations between the two NATO allies.

“Let them look back at their history,” Bozdag said in a speech. “We see the old illnesses flaring up.”

The city of Cologne also blocked an event where Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybecki was to speak on Sunday. Police said shortly after that a second gathering he had been due to attend in the western town of Frechen was also canceled.

Zeybecki said he still planned to go to Germany.

“We say the victory is God’s…I will go from cafe to cafe, house to house,” he said. “Nobody should worry, we will still meet with our citizens in Germany.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking in Tunis, said her government had played no part in steps taken by city councils who, according to one mayor, acted purely on security grounds.

She renewed her criticism of Turkey’s arrest of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for German newspaper Die Welt.

“We support freedom of expression and we can criticize Turkey,” she told reporters.

The German foreign ministry urged Ankara to refrain from “pouring oil on the fire”.

GERMANY “ABETTING TERRORISM”

Erdogan said in Ankara the cause of the tensions between the two countries was Germany’s support for Turkey’s enemies.

“It isn’t because a correspondent of Die Welt was arrested,” Erdogan told an awards ceremony in Istanbul.

“It is because this person hid in the German embassy as a member of the PKK and a German agent for one month. When we told them to hand him over to be tried, they refused.”

“So, they won’t let our justice minister and economy minister speak,” Erdogan added.

“They need to be tried for helping and abetting terrorism.”

Gaggenau would have been part of efforts to garner support among 1.5 million Turkish citizens for an April referendum expanding Erdogan’s powers – something he has sought with increased urgency since an army bid to topple him.

Erdogan has accused West European countries of failing to condemn the July putsch quickly or strongly enough. West European countries have expressed concern about his subsequent crackdown on journalists, judiciary, academics and others.

On Friday evening the Dutch government said plans by Turkish authorities to hold a referendum campaign rally in Rotterdam were “undesirable”.

The leader of an association of Dutch Turks said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was planning to attend the March 11 rally, hoping to persuade the Netherlands’ hundreds of thousands of dual citizens to vote for the new constitution giving Erdogan greater powers.

Authorities in Gaggenau evacuated the city hall for hours on Friday after receiving a bomb threat, its mayor told n-tv German television. Asked if it was linked to the cancellation, mayor Michael Pfeiffer said: “We presume this at the moment, but we don’t know for sure.”

In a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, the ministers agreed to meet in Germany on March 8 to discuss tensions between the two countries, foreign ministry sources in Ankara said.

Journalist Yucel, a German-Turkish dual national, is charged with propaganda in support of a terrorist organization. The German foreign ministry said it had not yet been granted consular access to Yucel or five other Germans arrested since the July 15 coup attempt.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas sent Bozdag a sharply worded letter after Bozdag canceled their Thursday meeting.

“When journalists, judges and attorneys are arrested simply because they are doing their jobs, simply because they are fulfilling their role in a constitutional state, then each arrest marks a degradation of the rule of law,” he wrote.

“It is the role of the state to protect journalists and not burden them with repressive measures.”

Erdogan accuses an exiled cleric of masterminding the coup, describing his organization as the FETO terrorist group. Turkey also complains that Germany and other West European countries give succor to militant leftists and PKK Kurdish militants.

Germany is wary of rising tensions, seeking continued Turkish commitment to arrangements preventing large movements of refugees from Turkey to Europe.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin, Andreas Rinke in Tunis and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; editing by Andrew Roche)

Germany’s Merkel to visit Washington March 14

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a joint news conference with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following talks at the El-Thadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington on March 14 to meet President Donald Trump, their first encounter after a rocky start to relations amid disagreements about trade, Trump’s travel ban and his comments about the media.

A U.S. official announced the visit, which comes shortly before a meeting in Germany of the finance ministers of the G20 industrialized countries and will help lay the groundwork for Trump’s visit to Germany in July for a meeting of G20 leaders.

The new Republican president and Merkel issued a joint statement after a telephone call in January, underscoring the importance of the NATO alliance and vowing to work together more closely to combat terrorism.

A few days later, Merkel sharply criticized Trump’s temporary travel ban on citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries. She has also repeatedly underscored the importance of a free press when asked about Trump’s negative comments about the media.

Merkel had a warm relationship with Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.

The meeting between Trump and Merkel is likely to cover a wide range of issues, including the global economy, trade, the fight against Islamic State, NATO and ties with Russia and China.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Germany says to keep soldiers in Baltics as long as needed

German Foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel speaks during a news conference in Riga, Latvia, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

RUKLA, Lithuania/AMARI, Estonia (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Thursday criticized Russia’s military build-up on its borders with the Baltic states as irrational and said Germany would keep troops in the region for as long as needed.

Gabriel visited about 400 German soldiers stationed in Rukla, Lithuania, as part of a German-led battle group of 1,000 troops that will be joined this year by a U.S.-led forces in Poland, British-led soldiers in Estonia and Canadian-led troops in Latvia.

NATO is expanding its presence in the region to levels unprecedented since the Cold War, prompted by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and accusations – denied by Moscow – that it is supporting a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The NATO presence will swell further for a series of exercises this summer, but is dwarfed by the Russian military build-up, U.S. officials say.

“The military potential that the Russian Federation has built up here at the border is completely irrational in my view because there is zero threat emanating from these countries,” Gabriel told reporters.

Gabriel gave no further details, but said the German troops would remain at the Lithuanian base “as long as needed”.

Russia has said it has noticed German soldiers deploying along its borders for the first time since World War Two and said it views the deployment of NATO troops and military hardware to the Baltic states as a threat.

Moscow has described its own military deployments as being either defensive and a direct response to NATO, or as part of a sweeping program to modernize its armed forces.

“SOLID PROTECTION”

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who visited the Lithuanian base last month after the German troops arrived, told reporters at an air base in Amari, Estonia, that Germany was committed to ensuring the safety of the region.

German air force units have been stationed in Estonia to provide air defense since 2005 but their presence was increased in 2014 for air policing operations.

“Estonia, and our friends from Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, can rely on us,” von der Leyen said. “We Germans know what it means to be at the eastern border and to have the solid protection of the alliance.”

Von der Leyen and Gabriel both addressed concerns about increasing Russian disinformation campaigns after a fake report surfaced about a Lithuanian being raped by German troops that NATO said was traced to Russia.

“No one expects a real military confrontation to happen here, but what there is, and what has been reported in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, are attempts at massive disinformation and influence campaigns,” Gabriel said.

Von der Leyen said Germany and Europe were seeing clear signs of “efforts to destabilize” similar to Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election reported by U.S. intelligence services.

“That is why it is so important that we investigate these cases, put them on the table and make them public so we can recognize the patterns,” she said.

Russia has categorically denied it ran an influence campaign designed to sway the U.S. presidential election and has dismissed as absurd allegations it intends to meddle in European elections this year.

Such allegations are motivated by a desire to whip up anti-Russian sentiment and are being used by Western politicians to distract voters from pressing domestic problems, says Moscow.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold in Rukla and David Mardiste in Amari; Writing by Andrea Shalal; editin by Janet Lawrence and Richard Lough)