The Pentagon is calling on the Baltic states to moderate their rhetoric about Russia, -. Reuters In recent weeks, Pentagon officials have asked several NATO countries to tone down rhetoric about the threat from the Russian Federation, arguing that some statements by European leaders and officials undermine the continent's security, according to four people familiar with the matter. Pentagon chief of policy Elbridge Colby, a key figure in the ongoing review of US troop levels in Europe, was one of the US officials who delivered the message. One familiar source told Reuters that Colby had recently told a Baltic official that the Russians should not be "upset". This person noted that Colby cited as an example of unhelpful rhetoric the Europeans' public statements that Russia was "cornered like a rat." "We help you. The Americans are here. Just don't yell. Don't make noise," a European source reported on the details of the conversation.

The Pentagon is calling on the Baltic states to moderate their rhetoric about Russia, -. Reuters In recent weeks, Pentagon officials have asked several NATO countries to tone down rhetoric about the threat from the Russian Federation, arguing that some statements by European leaders and officials undermine the continent's security, according to four people familiar with the matter. Pentagon chief of policy Elbridge Colby, a key figure in the ongoing review of US troop levels in Europe, was one of the US officials who delivered the message. One familiar source told Reuters that Colby had recently told a Baltic official that the Russians should not be "upset". This person noted that Colby cited as an example of unhelpful rhetoric the Europeans' public statements that Russia was "cornered like a rat." "We help you. The Americans are here. Just don't yell. Don't make noise," a European source reported on the details of the conversation.