WARSAW, Poland â NATO on Wednesday clarified comments that Secretary-General Mark Rutte made earlier in the day, when he suggested that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania died, even though the U.S. Army said their fate was not yet confirmed.
âThe search is ongoing,â NATO said in a statement posted on X. "We regret any confusion about remarks @SecGenNATO delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports & was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown.â
The U.S. Army said the Hercules armored vehicle the four U.S. soldiers were in during a training exercise had been found submerged in a body of water. It said recovery efforts were underway by U.S. Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian agencies.
The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting tactical training when they went missing.
FILE - Eurocopters Tiger of the German Army take part in the Lithuanian-German division-level international military exercise 'Grand Quadriga 2024' at a training range in Pabrade, north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
During a trip to Warsaw, Rutte told reporters that he had received word of the deaths of the four soldiers while he was delivering a lecture, and that his thoughts were with their families and with the United States.
âThis is still early news so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones," Rutte said in Warsaw.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that the four U.S. soldiers and their vehicle were reported missing Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras ÅŊukauskas training ground in PabradÄ, a town located less than 6 miles from the border with Belarus.
The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all NATO members and have often had chilly ties with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Relations soured further over Russiaâs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas NausÄda has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.
