The Kremlin sidestepped Donald Trump’s statement that the United States should not immediately come to the defense of NATO allies under attack, according to reports by Russian news outlets, instead criticizing the premise of the question that prompted his response.

In an interview, The New York Times asked Trump how the U.S. should respond in the case of a Russian attack on Baltic states, to which he said that America should come to their defense only “if they fulfill their obligations to us.”