Obama to meet Baltic leaders

US President Barack Obama will meet with Baltic leaders on August 30 for talks ahead of the G20 summit in Russia, the White House said yesterday.
The joint meeting with the leaders of formerly Soviet Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia "will highlight the significant transformations the Baltic states have undergone since restoring their independence two decades ago," it said.
"The four leaders will discuss a broad range of mutual interests, including regional cooperation on shared challenges, energy security, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, defense, and cyber cooperation."
It said Obama would also discuss joint efforts to advance human rights and democratic values.
The meeting -- with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, and President Andris Berzins of Latvia -- will come just days before Obama travels to Russia for the G20 summit.
The three formerly Soviet states, which joined the European Union and NATO in 2004-5, have had troubled relations with Moscow and have expressed concern over Obama's push for nuclear disarmament.