VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — After moving to annex Crimea, Russian
President Vladimir Putin insists he has no intention of invading other
regions in Ukraine, much less other nations. But leaders in Russia's
backyard aren't so sure, and they're looking to Vice President Joe Biden
for assurances that the U.S. has a plan to prevent that from happening.Biden was meeting in this Baltic capital Wednesday with the leaders of Lithuania and Latvia, two small countries that, like Ukraine, border Russia. Almost 10 years to the day after Lithuania and Latvia joined NATO, the Baltics are suddenly plunged into the type of eerie concern about foreign aggression they may have thought they'd left behind at the end of the Cold War.
A day after promising more sanctions and regional military exercises to send a stern signal to Putin, Biden was making the case that the U.S. stands ready to defend nations like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia whose NATO membership entitles them to a defensive response from the U.S. and others.
"Have no doubt: The United States will honor its commitment. We always do," Biden said Tuesday in Warsaw, Poland, which shares a border with both Russia and Ukraine.
Still, the entire region is reeling from Moscow's move to absorb Crimea into its orbit. Tough talk, sanctions and travel bans have not been enough so far to dissuade Putin and his military from seizing control of Crimea and then, after a Crimean referendum that the West has condemned as illegal, declaring it part of Russia. Other countries watching warily are concerned they could be next.
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