U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Montenegro on the final leg of a tour of Eastern Europe.
Pence's visit to Podgorica is seen as a show of U.S. support after Montenegro's entrance into NATO earlier this year sparked bitter opposition from Moscow.
Pence was greeted upon his arrival in Podgorica by Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.
He was scheduled to attend a dinner with President Filip Vujanovic and other officials on August 1.
On August 2, Pence was due to attend the Adriatic Charter summit -- a gathering that also brings together leaders from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Earlier on August 1, during a visit to Tbilisi, Pence reaffirmed Washington's support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity -- denouncing what he called Russia's "aggression" and "occupation" of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
On July 31, during a visit Estonia, Pence said Washington would not lessen its commitment to its allies because of the Kremlin's retaliatory move to reduce staff at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia over looming U.S. sanctions.
