President Donald Trump acknowledged at a Tuesday press conference that "many countries are a security threat," but did not explicitly name Russia among them.
A Finnish reporter prompted Trump's response during a joint press conference with the president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö.
"As President Niinistö told, he's been raising the issue about the security situation in the Baltic region, and the Baltic Sea specifically. And [he] has been concerned about the Russian planes flying there without transponders on," the reporter said. "Mr. Trump, would you consider Russia as a security threat?"
"Well, I consider many countries as a security threat, unfortunately, when you look at what's going on in the world today," Trump said.
He went on to extoll America's relationship with the Baltic states, noting Vice President Mike Pence's recent visit there, but did not explicitly identify Russia.
"We consider that a very, very important part of the world," Trump said of the region. "We have great relationships there. We have a great relationship with Finland. So I would consider many countries threats, but these are all threats that we'll be able to handle if we have to. Hopefully we won't have to handle them, but if we do, we will handle them."
The reporter pressed him on how the United States would respond to escalation in the Baltics.
"If the situation in the Baltics were to escalate, what would the U.S. be ready to do in that unfortunate circumstance?" she asked.
"Well, we are very protective of that region," Trump said. "That's all I can say. We are very protective. We have great friends there, great relationships there. We are extremely protective."