U.S. Vice President Pence's hawkish tone on Russia contrasts with Trump approach

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence delivers a speech during a meeting with U.S. troops taking part in NATO led joint military exercises Noble Partner 2017 at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi, Georgia on August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump scolded U.S. lawmakers on Thursday for clamping down on Moscow with new sanctions, his message clashed with the one that Vice President Mike Pence pushed during a four-day trip this week to Eastern Europe.

As he toured Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro, Pence said the sanctions passed overwhelmingly by Congress would send a unified message to Russia that it must change its behaviour.