4 US Army soldiers go missing during training exercise in Lithuania, vehicle recovered
(PABRADĖ, Lithuania) — Search and recovery efforts are underway for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, according to the Army and the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.
The soldiers, who the Army said are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, were reported missing on Tuesday, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.
The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were operating at the time has been found submerged in water in a training area, the Army said on Wednesday.
“The 3rd Inf. Div. is continuing to keep families of the Soldiers informed on the status of search efforts,” the Army said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command center in Kursk on Wednesday, ordering troops there to “destroy” all Ukrainian formations remaining in the contested border region.
“Your task is to completely destroy the enemy, which has entrenched itself in the Kursk region and is still conducting warfare here, and fully liberate the Kursk region’s territory within the shortest possible time,” Putin said while clad in military fatigues.
“The previous status along the borderline must be restored,” the president said. “I do expect that all combat objectives facing your combat units will be attained unconditionally and the Kursk region’s territory will be fully cleared of the enemy in the near future.”
Ukrainian forces pushed into Kursk in August in a surprise offensive, seizing the town of Sudzha and surrounding villages. Kyiv’s troops have repelled months of Russian counteroffensives, but recent weeks have seen their salient crumble and Russian forces retake significant ground.
On Wednesday, Russian troops raised their flags over central Sudzha as Ukrainian forces hurriedly retreated back toward the shared border.
Russia’s battlefield successes in Kursk come as the U.S. pushes both Moscow and Kyiv to return to peace negotiations. This week, Ukraine and the U.S. agreed to a potential 30-day ceasefire, with American representatives also putting the proposal to a non-committal Kremlin.
Russian officials have indicated that they will not engage in peace negotiations while any of Kursk remains under Ukrainian control. Kyiv had hoped to use its occupation of the territory as leverage in talks, though its footprint there is now rapidly shrinking.
On Wednesday, Putin said he will give “special thought in the future to creating a security zone along the state border” to prevent repeat Ukrainian incursions. Prisoners taken on Russian territory would be treated “as terrorists,” Putin said, adding that “foreign mercenaries” are not protected under the Geneva Conventions.
President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Moscow this week as the administration pushes for a ceasefire and broader peace deal. The ball is now “truly in their court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Russia following the U.S.-Ukrainian agreement to a 30-day ceasefire proposal.
The Kremlin was non-committal. Officials were “scrutinizing” the publicly released statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Russia, he added, “doesn’t want to get ahead of itself” on the potential ceasefire.
On Thursday, Peskov confirmed that American negotiators are traveling to Moscow. “Contacts are planned,” Peskov told a press briefing, adding of the potential outcomes, “We will not prejudge, we will tell you later.” Peskov did not say whether Witkoff would meet with Putin.
Trump’s push for peace — which has been twinned with fierce public criticism of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — has been welcomed by America’s allies, though leaders have been perturbed by the president’s apparent alignment with Russia’s false narratives about the conflict.
Rubio will meet with G7 foreign ministers in Quebec, Canada, on Thursday. His presence at the meeting will also be overshadowed by Trump’s spiralling trade war with America’s northern neighbor, plus the president’s repeated suggestion that Canada be absorbed by the U.S. and become its 51st state.
The G7 event “is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Rubio said Wednesday, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, though, said that “in every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans.”
“The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump’s talk of annexing our country through economic coercion,” Joly said. “Yesterday, he called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric.”
ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(ROME and LONDON) — Pope Francis on Sunday spent his 24th consecutive day in the hospital receiving therapy and getting an update on world and church affairs, the Vatican’s press office said in a brief statement.
“The night was quiet, the pope is resting,” the Holy See said Sunday morning.
The Vatican said Sunday night that the pope’s condition remains “stable.” But his “overall situation remains complex, prompting doctors to maintain a guarded prognosis.”
The pope took part in mass Sunday morning in the chapel in his 10th-floor apartment in Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said. On Sunday evening, the pope watched live coverage of the first day of Spiritual Exercises for Lent for the Roman curia held in the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.
The Vatican said Pope Francis also continued his treatment Sunday and underwent motor and respiratory physiotherapy.
“His ventilation continues to switch from the day use of high-flow to anti-invasive mechanical ventilation at night,” according to the Vatican statement.
The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the substitute for general affairs of the secretary of state, Archbishop Penna Parra, visited the Pope in the hospital to update him on church and world matters on Sunday, according to the Vatican.
Officials with the Catholic Church, which the pope has led since 2013, said on Saturday that the 88-year-old pontiff had demonstrated a good response to therapy.
“The doctors, hoping to record these initial improvements in the coming days, are prudently keeping the prognosis as still guarded,” the Vatican said.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
Earlier Sunday, the pope released the text of his Angelus address, or weekly address, thanking the doctors and nurses caring for him. He also prayed for the many people around the world who are enduring illness, according to the Vatican.
“During my prolonged hospitalization here,” the pope said, “I too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart.”
(LONDON) — Many residents of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon are expected to return to their homes in the coming days and weeks, with most of the fighting in both areas paused under Israeli ceasefire agreements with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Under Israel’s multi-phased deal with Hamas, some hostages held in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have started to be released. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to continue amid the first phase of the deal, which was slated to last about six weeks.
Threats to ceasefire will ‘bear the full cost,’ Israeli minister says
Katz Israel, the Israeli defense minister, said on Monday that his country would “firmly” enforce the ceasefires that have paused fighting in Gaza.
“Anyone who violates the rules or threatens IDF forces will bear the full cost,” he said in Hebrew on social media. “We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7.”
Tens of thousands trek into northern Gaza
Tens of thousands of people were marching and driving on Monday back to northern Gaza, after Israel allowed them to cross into the north for the first time in over a year.
Long lines of Palestinians — some singing, others smiling and some kneeling to kiss the soil as they stepped into the northern part of the strip — were seen making their way home.
Those returning home were moving along two main routes.
Many of those who were were walking home were moving along al-Rashid Street, a path expected to be taken by about 300,000 people.
Many of those who were driving north were doing so along Salah al-Din Road.
A line of cars could be seen stretching for about 8 miles on Monday morning, as they waited for permission to cross into the northern part of Gaza.
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara, Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta and Samayeh Malekian
1 dead, 4 injured after IDF fired at ‘dozens of suspects’ in central Gaza
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its team evacuated one person who was killed, and four people who were injured, after an attack by Israeli snipers near the Wadi Gaza Bridge on Sunday.
Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops fired “warning shots” at “several gatherings of dozens of suspects” who the IDF said posed a threat to them.
Additionally, a rocket was destroyed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, according to the IDF’s statement.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had introductory call with Israel’s Netanyahu
Newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had an introductory call on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement from a U.S. senior defense official.
“Both leaders discussed the importance of advancing mutual security interests and priorities, especially in the face of persistent threats,” according to the statement.
Hegseth, who won Senate confirmation after being selected by President Donald Trump for the role, stressed to Netanyahu that the U.S. is “fully committed” to ensuring that Israel “has the capabilities it needs to defend itself,” according to the statement.
Additionally, the defense official said that “both leaders agreed to remain in close contact.”
Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended to Feb. 18
The White House announced Sunday that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended until Feb.18.
Lebanon, Israel and the U.S. will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023.
