brussels<u+2014>america<u+2019>s european allies said tuesday that the west must not compromise on its principles or weaken its support for ukraine, in response to a telephone call this week between president-elect donald trump and russian president vladimir putin. mr. trump<u+2019>s comments during the election campaign about seeking a better relationship with russia rattled eastern european officials. those worries were accentuated with a kremlin report of a<u+00a0>phone call monday between messrs. trump and putin that said the two leaders agreed on a collaborative dialogue based on <u+201c>principles of equality, mutual respect and noninterference.<u+201d> diplomats have said kremlin requests for<u+00a0>noninterference amount to a demand of a recognition of a russian sphere of influence in the countries of the former soviet union, most important ukraine. germany, which has had a growing role in the north atlantic treaty organization in recent years, has long pushed to balance the alliance<u+2019>s steps to deter russia with more dialogue. on tuesday,<u+00a0>german defense minister ursula von der leyen said mr. trump<u+2019>s desire for dialogue was <u+201c>completely understandable,<u+201d> but she issued a pointed reminder that <u+201c>it<u+2019>s also important not to forget our principles,<u+201d> noting russia<u+2019>s annexation of crimea and what she called its hybrid war in ukraine. nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg said mr. trump<u+2019>s call to mr. putin was <u+201c>a very normal thing.<u+201d> mr. stoltenberg said nato for months has been emphasizing that it wants dialogue. but he too noted that the alliance wouldn 't accept the annexation of ukraine<u+2019>s crimean peninsula. <u+201c>there is no contradiction between strong defense and political dialogue,<u+201d> mr. stoltenberg said. <u+201c>we think it is important to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations, including ukraine.<u+201d> during the campaign, mr. trump raised the possibility that u.s. defense of european allies could be contingent on whether they spend enough on defense, comments that have rattled diplomats here since the election . president barack obama, at a news conference before his last foreign trip as president, said mr. trump had told him he was interested in <u+201c>maintaining our core strategic relationships.<u+201d> mr. obama said he would tell foreign leaders <u+201c>there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to america<u+2019>s commitment to maintaining a strong and robust nato.<u+201d> mr. stoltenberg<u+00a0>on tuesday<u+00a0>said he shared mr. trump<u+2019>s view that europe must spend more on defense and said he expected the new president to continue the u.s. role in nato <u+201c>i am certain he will be a president of the united states who will live up to all the commitments of the united states in the alliance,<u+201d> mr. stoltenberg said. <u+2014>valentina pop contributed to the article. write to julian e. barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
nato, europe urge no compromise with russia over ukraine  - wsj
julian e. barnes