Pentagon urges NATO allies to temper Russia rhetoric

Pentagon officials have privately urged several NATO allies, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, to temper public statements about Russia, saying some rhetoric could undermine continental security, according to people familiar with the discussions. The requests were conveyed in bilateral meetings in recent weeks. Four people familiar with the exchanges, including European and U.S. officials, described them on condition of anonymity. The full list of governments approached is not clear, and the accounts do not establish whether the advice changed any public statements. Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, was among the U.S. officials who delivered the message, the people said. One person familiar with a conversation said Colby advised a Baltic official against “poking” Russia and cited descriptions of Moscow as cornered like a rat as an example of language Washington considered unhelpful. The reporting did not establish which specific statement he meant. In a separate meeting, Pentagon representatives reportedly urged an Estonian delegation to be measured in its communications. The person who described that encounter did not identify a particular statement that...