German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has traveled to NATO partner Lithuania to inaugurate a German brigade meant to protect the alliance’s eastern flank in the face of mounting worries about Russia.

Thousands of people have turned out to bid farewell to four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in the Baltic nation.

NATO is clarifying comments that Secretary-General Mark Rutte made when he suggested that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania had died, even though the U.S. Army said their fate was not yet confirmed.

Poland and Baltic nations have welcomed a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to launch talks about using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.

Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says that any peace settlement in Ukraine must involve Kyiv and come with more defense spending by regional countries to deter future Russian aggression.

Lithuania's president says his country has made the decision to raise its spending on defense to between 5% and 6% of overall national economic output starting in 2026.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has secured a second five-year term as Lithuanian president in a landslide victory over Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas says Russia is waging a “shadow war” against the West.

Lithuanians have voted in a presidential election at a time when Russian gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions.

Lithuania is holding a presidential election on Sunday at a time when Russian gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fueling greater fears across all of Europe about Moscow's intentions.

Officials say that two Polish citizens have been detained in Poland on suspicion of attacking Russian activist Leonid Volkov, an ally of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on the orders of foreign intelligence services.

Several central and Eastern European countries have begun marking the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion of the NATO military alliance when formerly socialist countries became members of the bloc.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out a cease-fire as his country defends itself against Russia's invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has shown that the Russian military can be stopped.

Polish and Lithuanian leaders have held an urgent meeting in a strategically sensitive area where their NATO nations border Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts have endorsed the biggest shakeup of the way the military alliance would respond to any attack on its territory by Russia since the Cold War.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore says data from a new project tracking greenhouse gases suggests oil and gas companies are emitting three times as much as they report.

European Union leaders are meeting in Prague to try to bridge significant differences over a natural gas price cap as winter approaches and Russia’s war on Ukraine fuels the energy crisis.

The presidents of NATO members Poland and Lithuania have voiced confidence that allied troops can fully safeguard a strategically vital corridor that links their countries, Concern over NATO’s ability to defend the so called Suwalki Gap, a 70-kilometer (43-mile) wedge joining Poland and Lithuania, has rocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Nine NATO nations on the alliance’s eastern flank have held talks in Romania ahead of a key NATO summit later this month.

Kremlin critic Bill Browder wants governments to step up efforts to get to the riches squirreled away by Russian oligarchs by forcing accountants, lawyers and others who set up murky legal and financial structures to become whistleblowers.

Lithuania says it has cut itself off entirely of gas imports from Russia, apparently becoming the first of the European Union's 27 nations using Russian gas to break its energy dependence upon Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has assured the three Baltic nations that they would not be on their own if faced with security threats from Russia.

Poland and Lithuania have joined Ukraine to urge stronger Western sanctions against Moscow amid a Russian troops buildup near the Ukrainian border that fueled fears of an invasion.

European Union leaders are pressing Russia to enter peace talks with Ukraine.

The European Union’s border agency is pledging to “significantly” step up its support to Lithuania “due to the growing migratory pressure at Lithuania’s border with Belarus” that the Baltic nation is trying to contain.

A news conference at a NATO air base in Lithuania featuring Lithuania’s president and Spain’s prime minister got abruptly cut off when the pair of Spanish fighter jets serving as the backdrop were scrambled to monitor errant military aircraft in the Baltic skies.

European Union leaders have engaged in what one official described as an “emotional debate” as they confronted Hungary’s prime minister over new legislation in his country that will ban showing content about LGBT issues to children.

People wear face masks to protect against coronavirus as they cast their ballots during the parliamentary elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. Polls opened Sunday for the first round of national election in Lithuania, where voters will renew the 141-seat parliament and the ruling four-party coalition is widely expected to face a stiff challenge from the opposition to remain in office. Results were expected by early Monday, but the commission said there might be delays in counting because of early voting by citizens and strict coronavirus measures. Marija Kazlauskiene, a 75-year-old retiree, said she prefers the ruling coalition. Lithuania has granted shelter to Belarus opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus after challenging President Alexander Lukashenko in the country’s Aug. 9 presidential vote.