US assures Baltics of NATO protection against Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a lightning visit to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as they watch Russia press ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.  The former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all members of NATO and Blinken aims to reassure them of the alliance’s protection in the event Russia chooses to expand its military operations to other neighboring countries. Blinken’s Baltic tour opened Monday in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where support for Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion government is palpable with signs of solidarity with Ukrainians in many businesses and on public buildings and buses.

In the Latvian capital of Riga, Blinken said the Baltics have “formed a democratic wall that now stands against the tide of autocracy” that Russia is pushing in Europe. “The United States is more committed than ever to standing with you as our democracies rise to the challenge," he said. Blinken stressed that the U.S. commitment to NATO’s mutual defense pact is “sacrosanct” and that NATO and the United States were discussing the permanent basing of troops in the Baltics.

Leaders in both countries expressed grave concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions as it relates to former Soviet bloc countries that are now allied or otherwise linked to the West. "We have no illusions about Putin’s Russia anymore," Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said after meeting Blinken in Riga. “We don’t really see any good reason to assume that Russia might change its policy.”