Jeb Bush visiting Warsaw, Poland | EPA In Europe, Jeb Bush sounds like Barack Obama The Republican has difficulties differentiating his position on Russia from that of his president.

WARSAW — Jeb Bush, now on the third day of a European tour meant to showcase his foreign policy chops, is sounding a little bit like the man he’s trying to replace: Barack Obama.

Stylistically, Bush is a striking a more aggressive posture than the president, warning about Russian encroachment and vowing to more staunchly defend America’s allies in Eastern Europe.

But on substance, Bush has offered little to differentiate himself from Obama’s cautious, consensus-driven approach to confronting Russian leader Vladimir Putin — aside from a vague call for “defensive military support” for the Western-backed Ukrainian government.

On Thursday, Bush told reporters that his meetings with the Polish president and other government and business leaders here in Warsaw have confirmed his belief that Poland wants America to play a bigger role in Europe and the world and that “it’s really important for the United States to stay active and be clear about the role that we can play.

“When there’s doubt, when there’s uncertainty, when we pull back, it creates less chance of a more peaceful world,” Bush said.

He repeated his call for bolstering U.S. military forces in the Baltic states, where Obama last year ordered a buildup of air force units. “The numbers are, I understand, in the hundreds, and that doesn’t send a signal of strength. We need to be more robust, and need to encourage our allies to invest more in security,” Bush said.

“When there’s doubt, when there’s uncertainty, when we pull back, it creates less chance of a more peaceful world” — Jeb Bush on U.S. military support at Europe's eastern borders

And Bush again went further than Obama has, calling for sending defensive weapons to the embattled government in Kiev. Lawmakers on both sides — as well as many of his own top advisers — have urged the president to arm the Ukrainians with lethal weapons, but he has thus far demurred.

“I think we need to provide defensive military support, because it’s very hard to make the structural reforms necessary and grow the economy in a world where there’s a threat of further aggression,” Bush said. “That would be the first step.”

But he provided few specific ideas for challenging Putin, calling vaguely for “a strategy” that is “comprehensive” and “forward-leaning.”

He reiterated his line that the U.S. “can’t be all things to all people; we can’t be the world’s policeman” — a refrain that echoes Obama’s own September 2013 declaration that “America is not the world’s policeman.”

And Bush’s calls for reassuring nervous NATO allies ignored Obama’s Sept. 14, 2014, speech in Talinn, the Estonian capital, in which the president bluntly declared, “We will defend the territorial integrity of every single ally” and warned Putin against further aggression, as he did again during last weekend’s G-7 summit in Bavaria.

Nor has Bush differentiated himself much on economic issues.

In Berlin, he stressed the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a U.S.-European trade deal that Obama supports.

In Warsaw, he met with the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and lauded the group, which he described as “an offshoot by the way of a U.S. effort investing in the future of this country and it was an extraordinary success”; Obama has hailed the foundation several times.

But on the question of whether the U.S. and Europe should invest more foreign aid in Ukraine, Bush was noncommittal.

So far, the U.S. has provided Kiev with $2 billion in loan guarantees; the European Union has coughed up $1.8 billion in economic aid, which The Economist has called “contemptible.” Additional economic aid, many believe, could loosen Russia’s grip by helping Ukraine develop its own natural gas resources, making it less reliant on Moscow.

Bush also said any future aid should be tied to economic reforms, and that Europe “should play a leading role” in this area.

Asked about whether Georgia or Ukraine should join NATO, Bush again agreed with Obama.

“There’s a process that these countries need to go through,” he said. “I think that process is established and it’s the right one.”

As for whether the U.S. should consider putting permanent military bases in Poland, Bush was careful not to over-commit, pointing out that he’s not yet privy to the intelligence he’d need to decide.

“Maybe I should get classified briefings,” Bush said with a chuckle. “I’ll talk to my national security adviser and get back to you, how about that?”