On first visit to Europe since taking office, US vice-president tells Munich conference Nato allies must step up their contributions 
 
 The US vice-president has delivered the most uncompromising message yet from the Trump administration to Nato allies that they have to step up financial contributions towards defence spending. 
 
 On his first visit to Europe since taking office, Mike Pence said “some of our largest allies do not have a credible path” towards paying their share of Nato’s financial burden. Although he did not name individual countries, his targets included Germany, France and Italy. “The time has come to do more,” he said. 
 
 Brexit Britain’s Nato strategy is fatally flawed | Martin Kettle Read more 
 
 This section of his speech to the Munich security conference, which is being attended by 500 delegates including government leaders and defence and foreign ministers from around the world, was greeted with lukewarm applause. 
 
 
 
 He was speaking immediately after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, made it clear she would not be bullied by the US over defence spending. She said Germany had made a promise to increase defence over the next decade and would fulfil that commitment rather than be forced into the faster rises that Trump is looking for. 
 
 Merkel said the focus on defence spending could be misleading. Even if Germany was to spend more, there was not the military capacity available to invest in. She added that Germany saw spending on development in countries in Africa and elsewhere as being as vital to security as military spending. 
 
 The conference marks the first major meeting between the Trump administration and leaders from across Europe since Trump took office. 
 
 Pence went further than the US defence secretary, James Mattis, at Nato headquarters on Wednesday in warning Nato allies to stump up more. He said: “As of this moment, the US and only four other Nato members meet that basic standard.” 
 
 Those four countries are the UK, Estonia, Greece and Poland. The other 23 Nato members do not meet the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence. 
 
 In a thinly veiled warning, Pence said that while the US was bound by Nato’s article five – an attack on one member would be an attack on all – he also reminded the audience that article three contained a commitment to sharing the financial burden, echoing Trump’s warning last year that he did not feel bound to come to the defence of countries that did not pay their share. 
 
 Pence peppered his speech with regular references to Trump, stressing that he was delivering messages from the president. He softened his criticism of allies with assurances that the president, in spite of rhetoric about isolationism, valued Nato “The US strongly supports Nato and will be unwavering in our support of this transatlantic alliance,” he said. 
 
 Pence also attempted to square the contradictory comments made by Trump towards Russia. While the US wanted a new relationship with Russia, he said that the US expected Russia to honour the 2015 Minsk peace agreement aimed at ending violence in Ukraine. 
 
 “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.” 
 
 After the meeting, Pence was scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Merkel and also with the leaders of Ukraine and the Baltic states. 
 
 
 
 Merkel made the case for more multilateralism rather than a retreat into “parochialism” because of the dangers posed by “no fixed world order”. 
 
 With Pence in the room, she avoided direct references to Trump even though many of her comments during her speech and in a question-and-answer session afterwards were aimed at him. 
 
 Asked about attacks on the media, Merkel said: “Freedom of the press is a pillar of democracy.” ||||| MUNICH—Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. would be unwavering in its commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but demanded that Europe step up its military spending, marking one of the Trump administration’s most full-throated efforts yet to reassure nervous partners. 
 
 Mr. Pence, speaking at the Munich Security Conference to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and scores of other leaders and senior officials from around the world, said he was bringing to Europe a message from President Donald Trump about the... ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nato countries are failing to meet their commitments, Mike Pence said 
 
 The US will be "unwavering" in its support for Nato, vice-president Mike Pence told European leaders at the Munich Security Conference. 
 
 In the first major foreign policy address for the Trump administration, Mr Pence said the US would "stand with Europe today and every day". 
 
 But he told the gathered leaders that European countries were "failing to pay their fair share" on defence. 
 
 That failure "erodes the foundation of our alliance", he said. 
 
 The vice-president pointed out that apart from the US, only four Nato countries had met a 2014 commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence. 
 
 "The time has come to do more," he said. 
 
 US and Europe weigh each other up at Nato 
 
 President Donald Trump warned before taking office that the US might not uphold its commitment to come to the defence of Nato allies who were not perceived to have contributed enough financially. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Angela Merkel addressed the conference directly before Mike Pence 
 
 Watching the speech was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke before Mr Pence. Germany is among the nations yet to meet the 2% target. 
 
 Nato estimates for 2016 show that only the US, UK, Greece, Poland and Estonia do so. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mike Pence: "With regard to Ukraine...we must hold Russia accountable" 
 
 Mr Pence went on to say that the US would "continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we search for new common ground, which as you know, President Trump believes can be found". 
 
 Mr Pence said Russia must honour a 2015 peace deal agreed upon in Minsk, Belarus, aimed at ending violence in eastern Ukraine. 
 
 His comments came amid huge controversy in the US over ties between the Trump administration and Russia, and concern in Europe over whether the new administration would attempt to restrain Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the conference, rejected accusations that Russia was responsible for destabilising peace and described Nato as stuck in "Cold War" thinking. 
 
 Mr Lavrov also denied allegations that Russia had meddled in the US election, saying he "saw no facts" pointing to hacking by Russian operatives. 
 
 Speaking before Mr Pence, Ms Merkel called for increased co-operation between the US and the European Union on issues including Russian aggression and Islamist terror. 
 
 The two leaders were scheduled to meet face to face later in the day. 
 
 A dig at Trump - Jonathan Marcus, defence correspondent 
 
 Speaking before Mr Pence, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the question now facing the trans-Atlantic community was whether "we will be able to act in concert or fall back into parochial politics" - a subtle but clear dig at Mr Trump's mantra of "America First". 
 
 Asked directly what she thought about the Trump administration's rhetorical onslaught against sections of the media, Ms Merkel insisted that freedom of the press was a pillar of democracy. 
 
 When Mr Pence took to the stage he stressed that he was bringing a message of reassurance from the new president, who would "unwaveringly" back America's Nato allies. 
 
 But he also used the opportunity to repeat Mr Trump's long-held view that Washington's European allies must spend more on their own defence.
– Mike Pence promised NATO allies Saturday that they had the "unwavering" support of the US, while also making it clear that the administration considers most of them to be freeloaders. The vice president, speaking to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, said European countries are failing to "pay their fair share" on defense, the BBC reports. Pence said only four other NATO countries—the UK, Greece, Estonia, and Poland—met a commitment to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense. "The time has come to do more," Pence said, echoing President Trump's campaign rhetoric. Pence said the US plans to boost military spending and will "hold Russia accountable" for its actions in Ukraine. "Peace only comes through strength," Pence said, per the Wall Street Journal. "President Trump believes we must be strong in our military might." German Chancellor Angela Merkel also addressed the conference and said Germany will increase its spending to meet NATO's target, but it won't be rushed into it, the Guardian reports. She added that it would be a mistake to believe that defense spending is the only way to boost security. "Security is ensured just as much by increasing one’s development spending," she said. Merkel said the US was a valuable partner in the fight against terrorism, along with Islamic nations who can show "that a misguided Islam, rather than Islam itself, is the cause of terrorism."