NATO on Wednesday clarified feedback that Secretary-Normal Mark Rutte made earlier within the day, when he recommended that 4 U.S. troopers who went lacking whereas coaching in Lithuania had died, regardless that the U.S. Military stated their destiny was not but confirmed.
“The search is ongoing,” NATO stated in a press release posted on X. “We remorse any confusion about remarks @SecGenNATO delivered on this right this moment. He was referring to rising information experiences & was not confirming the destiny of the lacking, which continues to be unknown.”
The U.S. Military stated the Hercules armored car the 4 U.S. troopers have been in throughout a coaching train had been discovered submerged in a physique of water. It stated restoration efforts have been underway by U.S. Military and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian companies.
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The troopers, all from 1st Brigade, third Infantry Division, have been conducting tactical coaching after they went lacking.
Requested Wednesday night by reporters if he had been briefed concerning the lacking troopers, President Donald Trump stated, “No, I haven’t.”
Throughout a visit to Warsaw, Rutte informed reporters that he had obtained phrase of the deaths of the 4 troopers whereas he was delivering a lecture, and that his ideas have been with their households and with the USA.
“That is nonetheless early information so we have no idea the main points. That is actually horrible information and our ideas are with the households and family members,” Rutte stated in Warsaw.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that the 4 U.S. troopers and their car have been reported lacking Tuesday afternoon throughout an train on the Normal Silvestras Žukauskas coaching floor in Pabradė, a city positioned lower than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.
The Baltic international locations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all NATO members and have usually had chilly ties with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Relations soured additional over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has been one of the crucial outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its struggle in opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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