'Will not stop until ISIS is gone', says Trump at Baltic summit

New Delhi : United States President Donald Trump affirmed that the US "will not stop until ISIS is gone" while justifying the presence of the US troops in Syria.

Presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia visited the White House on Tuesday to attend the Baltic Summit in the United States.

Trump took to his Twitter account to welcome all the three Presidents to the White House while congratulating Estonia on its 100th anniversary of Independence.

"Today, it was my honour to welcome Estonia President @KerstiKaljulaid, Lithuania President @Grybauskaite_LT, and Latvia President @Vejonis to the @WhiteHouse. Congratulations on your 100th anniversaries of independence! #BalticSummit", Trump tweeted.

The three Presidents of the Baltic nations hosted a joint press conference with Trump as part of the Baltic summit.

Trump, while addressing the conference, mentioned the World's Declaration of 1940 and US-Baltic Charter of 1998 and assured to stand with it.

He further acknowledged the assistance of the Baltic countries in providing military training to the soldiers to fight against military group ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Trump said, "We will not stop until ISIS is gone".

Trump further called for expanding mutual trade relations between Baltic countries and US.

He encouraged the move of Lithuania to begin buying the liquid natural gas from the United States as part of an effort to secure alternative energy supplies and reduce its dependence on Russia.

Referring to US sanctions on Russia for its alleged role in manipulation of the 2014 US elections, Trump said, "Nobody's been tougher on Russia than I have."

Trump also praised the Baltic countries for their robust defence spending. Latvia and Lithuania come close to meeting the NATO benchmark of devoting two percent of their economies to defence while Estonia spends slightly more than two percent.

"When nations are committed to peace and to security, they have to pay their share and we will all enjoy a much more safe and prosperous future," Trump said.

Trump was followed by President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, who focused on the defence issues being faced by the countries while mentioning the Article 5 of the US-Baltic Declaration.

Grybauskaite said, "Our discussions are more about bringing reforms in defence. We are helping the United States to combat terrorism in Afghanistan, Maali and wherever it is required. We see the willingness of US to see a different quality of NATO."

Further, the Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis said the US has committed to apply deterrent policies in the Baltic regions.

"We will commit 2 percent GDP towards military strengthening NATO in eastern area and contribute to international security," Vejonis said.

He further mentioned of combating military terrorism, cyber information warfare and nuclear proliferation, while highlighting the growth of the digital economy and trade relations with the US.

Further, Estonia's President Kersti Kaljulaid reiterated the commitment of Baltic nations towards military strengthening by saying, "Peace and security depend on strong sovereign nations. We stand together like-minded partners and allies. We find it important to contribute to counter-terrorism and spend 2 percent of GDP on defence".