Ryan: Russia Probe to Help US Allies

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan says one of the reasons the U.S. Congress has launched a thorough investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election is to "prevent the same kind of thing happening" to its NATO and other allies.

Ryan spoke Saturday at a news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas during a visit by a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Baltic NATO member and staunch Washington ally.

The Republican speaker said though Russia's alleged meddling didn't affect the outcome of the election its actions "cannot be tolerated." He stressed the U.S has a responsibility to share the results of the Russia investigation with countries like Estonia, which in recent years has faced Russia's aggressive disinformation campaigns along with Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania.

(KA)