Obama to Baltic states: NATO, U.S. forces bulwark against Russia --- TALLINN, Estonia — Even as an apparent truce process took halting steps in Ukraine, President Obama said Wednesday the U.S. military would expand its profile in the Western-looking Baltic states and promised NATO backing against any possible moves by Moscow in the former republics. -- Obama, who was in the Estonian capital Tallinn during a day of talks with Baltic leaders, said the Pentagon planned to seek congressional approval to station additional U.S. warplanes in Estonia as part of wider Cold War-style signals to Russia of Western resolve and unity. NATO members meeting in Wales this week are expected to fine-tune plans for a rapid-reaction force aimed in particular at confronting Russia. -- The U.S. plan for Estonia is an expansion of the initative Obama announced in Warsaw this spring to increase the American military presence in Europe. “Today, I can announce that this initiative will include additional air force units and aircraft for training exercises here in the Nordic-Baltic region,” he said. -- Obama’s further messages of support from NATO reinforce years of increasing outreach between the Western bloc and the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. But the comments have added urgency following Russia’s annexation of Crimea this spring and an uprising by pro-Russian rebels in others parts of Ukraine. -- “You lost your independence before. With NATO you will never lose it again,” Obama told a group of mostly students during a speech at a concert hall. -- Obama also reached out to nations bordering Russia, such as Finland and others in Eastern Europe, noting that NATO membership “will remain open” to others not in the 28-nation bloc - More, Washingtonpost