Rutte stated during his visit to Warsaw that he had been informed of the fatalities of the four soldiers, expressing that his thoughts were with their families and the United States.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Wednesday that four U.S. soldiers, who had gone missing during training exercises in Lithuania, have unfortunately died, although he did not have specific details at this time.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the soldiers were involved in a training accident but refrained from providing further information regarding their status.
During a visit to Warsaw, Rutte expressed his condolences, stating that he had been informed of the soldiers’ deaths and extended his thoughts to their families and to the United States. “This is still early news, so we do not have all the details. This is truly tragic, and our hearts go out to the families and loved ones,” Rutte remarked to reporters.
A statement from the U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs office in Wiesbaden, Germany, indicated that the soldiers were engaged in scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that the four U.S. soldiers and their vehicle were reported missing on Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, which is situated less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Belarus border.
The Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are NATO members and have historically maintained tense relations with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. Relations have further deteriorated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda emerging as a prominent advocate for Ukraine in its struggle against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
