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		</div><p>US vice president Mike Pence has said the United States will &#8220;hold Russia accountable&#8221; even as Donald Trump searches for common ground with Vladimir Putin&#8217;s administration.</p>
<p>Mr Pence told the Munich Security Conference in Germany that the international community must also demand that Russia honours a 2015 peace agreement aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Moscow-backed separatists.</p>
<p>He also offered assurances over the US commitment to Nato and the European Union in his address to the international conference of foreign diplomats and defence officials.</p>
<p>Mr Pence&#8217;s speech comes amid concerns in Europe about Russian aggression and US president Mr Trump&#8217;s positive statements about his Russian counterpart, Mr Putin.</p>
<p>Mr Pence declared: &#8220;Know this: The United States will continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we search for new common ground which, as you know, President Trump believes can be found.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Pence also reinforced the Trump administration&#8217;s message that Nato members must spend more on defence.<br />
The 28 member countries committed in 2014 to spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defence within a decade. But only the US and four other members of the post-Second World War military coalition are meeting the standard, Mr Pence said.</p>
<p>Failure to meet the commitment, he said, &#8220;erodes the very foundation of our alliance&#8221;.</p>
<p>The US vice president added: &#8220;Let me be clear on this point: The president of the United States expects our allies to keep their word, to fulfil this commitment and, for most, that means the time has come to do more.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Pence will meet German chancellor Angela Merkel later.</p>
<p>She addressed the conference just before the US vice president, stressing the need to maintain international alliances and saying that Nato is &#8220;in the American interest&#8221;.</p>
<p>Mrs Merkel appealed to the United States and others to support and bolster multilateral organisations such as the European Union and United Nations, as well as Nato.</p>
<p>Mrs Merkel told the gathering of other world leaders, diplomats and defence officials that &#8220;acting together strengthens everyone&#8221;.</p>
<p>Her address came amid concern about the Trump administration&#8217;s approach to international affairs and fears that it may have little interest in working in multilateral forums.</p>
<p>Mrs Merkel asked: &#8220;Will we be able to continue working well together, or will we all fall back into our individual roles?</p>
<p>&#8220;I call on us &#8211; and I hope we will find a common position on this &#8211; let&#8217;s make the world better together and then things will get better for every single one of us.&#8221;</p>
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