https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/w...rope-wn55kztpb
We’ll protect you from Russia, Joe Biden tells eastern Europe
President Biden has stressed America’s “sacred commitment” to defending its Nato allies in eastern Europe, promising them military support as Russia masses troops on the borders.
Biden spoke to the leaders of nine Nato states — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — on Thursday to “underscore the United States’ commitment to transatlantic security and our sacred commitment to Nato’s Article 5”, the White House said. Article 5 of Nato’s founding treaty says that an attack on any one ally is an attack on all of them.
It came as President Putin accused Ukraine of committing “genocide” in the east of the country, where Moscow-backed separatists have carved out two breakaway territories. He did not provide any evidence……
Tensions were ratcheted further as Moscow said Kiev had committed a “provocation” by sending a warship towards the Kerch Strait, which divides Russia and its annexed peninsula of Crimea. The Ukrainian ship allegedly failed to react to a Russian request to change course; it later retreated. Dmitry Peskov,
Putin’s spokesman, said the incident on Thursday showed the “potential harm and danger that could flow from such provocative actions”. Kiev said the ship was operating in its territorial waters.…..