Mediaboss Marketing

Ahead of a scheduled bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump on Thursday called on Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and to end its support for hostile governments in Syria and Iran.

Western nations, he added, must also be vigilant against terrorism and keep their borders closed to those who reject our values, and who use hatred to justify violence against the innocent.

Story Continued Below

Trump spoke at Warsaws Krasinski Square, near a monument to the Warsaw Uprising, where a crowd waving American and Polish flags repeatedly interrupted his speech to chant "Don-ald Trump." Before his speech, Trump laid flowers at the monument, which commemorates a 1944 uprising against the Nazis, as the crowd shouted "glory to the heroes."

During his speech, the president heaped praise upon Poland as a longtime U.S. ally, holding it up as an example of resilient Western democracy and warning against a trio of threats such democracies face today: terrorism, Russian aggression and the steady creep of government bureaucracy.

Of the latter, a threat Trump said is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles, Western nations must remember that they became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies.

Susan B. Glassers new weekly podcast takes you backstage in a world disrupted.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The fundamental question of our time is, whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Trump said. Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?

The trans-Atlantic alliance between the U.S. and Western Europe is as strong as ever and maybe, in some ways, even stronger, Trump said. And while the Soviet Union no longer threatens Europe, Russia continues to loom, the president said.

"Today, the West is also confronted by the powers that seek to test our will, undermine our confidence and challenge our interests," Trump said, perhaps alluding to Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "To meet new forms of aggression, including propaganda, financial crimes and cyberwarfare, we must adapt our alliance to compete effectively, in new ways and on all new battlefields."

Trump, who conspicuously made no mention of the U.S. commitment to NATOs mutual defense agreement during a visit to the treaty organizations headquarters in May, said Thursday that the U.S. has demonstrated not merely with words, but with its actions that we stand firmly behind Article 5, the all-for-one, one-for-all collective defense provision. He also praised Poland for its defense spending, an issue on which Trump has been insistent with NATO members.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

See original here:
Trump: Russia must stop 'destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere' - Politico