Pence's Eastern Europe trip has Russia hanging over it

US VICE-PRESIDENT Mike Pence starts this weekend an important tour of Eastern Europe. The visit, whose subtext is that of the future of US-Russia relations under President Donald Trump, will see his stops in Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro from July 30 to Aug 2, and comes in the wake of a near-unanimous US House of Representatives vote this week to impose new sanctions on Moscow.

Key agenda items in Mr Pence's tricky trip include a visit to see US and Georgian troops participating in the Nato-backed Noble Partner 2017 military exercise which also features troops from the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia and Slovenia. And Mr Pence will also participate, in Montenegro, with leaders across the Western Balkans in the Adriatic Charter Summit.

The immediate backdrop for Mr Pence's visit is the continuing controversy over Russia and the Trump team. The US House voted 419-3 on Tuesday to impose sanctions on Moscow, subject to passage too of the bill in the Senate, and Mr Trump not vetoing it. The legislation, whose restrictions would include on oil and gas projects, has been condemned by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who asserted it would plant a "dangerous mine" under bilateral relations that could explode in coming months.