President Obama will today seek to confound critics of his “weak” foreign policy by staging a show of solidarity with Baltic states nervous of Kremlin aggression.
In a visit to President Putin’s back yard, Mr Obama lands in Estonia for a 24-hour trip that is designed to send a clear message to Moscow that Washington will not tolerate further attempts at expansion.
He will hold talks with Estonian leaders and also meet the presidents of Lithuania and Latvia in the run up to Thursday’s Nato summit in Wales.
The three former Soviet states all have large Russian minorities. They have renewed calls for military help after recent activity by Moscow near their borders.
Nato aircraft intercepted Russian military jets approaching Baltic airspace several times last week, and a Russian submarine was spotted close to Latvian waters.
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Mr Obama’s trip comes amid renewed criticism of his foreign policy, even from within his own party, with many accusing him of failing to develop any strategy and of being weak. He has been vilified for his actions — or lack of them — in Ukraine, and in northern Iraq and northern Syria, where the influence of Islamic State (Isis) continues to spread.
Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, branded the president “too cautious” in reacting to the advances made by Isis, echoing comments made by Republicans. The party has compared Mr Obama unfavourably with David Cameron, hailing the prime minister’s comments on the fundamentalist group as far more robust than their own leader’s remarks.
The subject will take centre stage at the Nato summit this week in Wales, which will also cover the handover of Afghanistan to local forces, and Nato’s broader role in international security. The White House hopes that the Estonia leg of the trip — only the second time an American president has travelled to the country — will reassure nervous allies.
“Part of the message that the president will be sending is: ‘We stand with you; Russia, don’t even think about messing around in Estonia or in any of the Baltic areas in the same way that you have been messing around in Ukraine’,” Charles Kupchan, the senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, said last week. Heather Conley, senior vice-president for Europe, Eurasia and the Arctic at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think-tank, said: “I can’t begin to tell you how critical it is that the president visit Nato’s new front line. There has always been a great fear in the Baltic states that if push came to shove, they question whether Nato would really have their back.”
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Recent moves to station US troops in Estonia have gone some way to alleviating concerns, but the Baltic nations are looking for more commitment from Washington. Mr Obama will meet US troops in Tallinn during his trip.
Kathleen Hicks, also of CSIS, said: “If there’s anything that the Baltics do trust within Nato, it’s a US commitment directly, so they will be pushing hard that the Nato contingent will have a heavy US signal in it.
“That’s what they trust most: if there’s a US component there, there’s skin in the game, so to speak, in terms of defensive activity.”