Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election MORE said Thursday the U.S. would "absolutely" defend its NATO allies, contradicting remarks by Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE that he would only do so if they fulfilled their obligations to the U.S.

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“We’ll uphold our treaty obligations, including the mutual defense agreement that is NATO,” Pence told PBS NewsHour, referring to the alliance's obligation to defend a member nation if under attack.

Trump said in a New York Times interview a day earlier that if one of the Baltic nations in NATO was attacked by Russia, he would consider whether they had fulfilled their "obligations" to the U.S. before upholding the pact and coming to its aid.

"Have they fulfilled their obligations to us? If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes," Trump said, according to a transcript of the interview.

The comments caused an uproar among some Republican lawmakers, NATO officials and members of the foreign policy intelligentsia in Washington.

Despite those comments, Pence said Trump “would absolutely stand by our allies and treaty obligations.”

Pence's defense came just hours before Trump is scheduled to formally accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination during an address centered on national security.

Trump chose the Indiana governor as his running mate last week, despite some differences between the two men on foreign policy. His selection is believed to be a nod to the Republican foreign policy establishment, which has been skeptical of Trump.