The first meeting of the chiefs of staff of the United States and Ukraine. Last Minute GERMANY, Russia headlines and events

Chief of the General Staff Mark Milley, a senior US military official, met for the first time face-to-face with the Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff. The meeting took place in Poland, not far from the border with Ukraine.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its first year, a face-to-face meeting at a critical time shows growing ties between the two armies.

Milley’s US Joint Chiefs of Staff met with Ukrainian Chief of Staff Valeriy Zaluzhny at a secret location in southeastern Poland.

Over the past year, the two warlords have often spoken about Ukraine’s military needs and the state of war, but have never met face-to-face.

It is expected that at the meeting the international community will increase the level of training of Ukrainian soldiers of the United States; The United States came at a time when a coalition of European and other countries has increased military assistance to Ukraine, including providing Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery, tanks, enhanced air defense systems and other weapons.

These days we are also going through a difficult period of war. Ukrainian forces are facing heavy attacks in eastern Donetsk from Russian forces backed by the Wagner Group, made up of thousands of mercenaries. Russian troops are trying to turn the tide after a series of military defeats in recent months.

The journalists did not accompany Milli to the meeting, and he accepted the condition not to reveal which military base was located in southeastern Poland, following the conditions set by the military.

Milley’s spokesman, Colonel Dave Butler, said there was a possibility that Zaluzhny would travel to Brussels this week to meet with NATO defense ministers and other defense ministers, but when that possibility fell away on Monday, the two chiefs of staff decided to meet in Poland. . near the border..

Ukraine was visited by prominent US political leaders. However, the Biden administration has made it clear that no uniformed troops will go to Ukraine, except for those assigned to the embassy in Kyiv. Butler said that only Millie and a small group of six senior employees came to the meeting in Poland.

After the meeting between the two chiefs of staff, Milley will present Zaluzhny’s concerns and information about the progress of the war at a meeting of NATO military leaders, spokesman Butler said.

Butler said that Milley “will be able to describe the tactical and operational conditions on the battlefield and what the military needs to do” through this meeting and regular contacts.

Milli visited the US Grafenwoehr test site in Germany.

Millie will also be able to talk about US training of Ukrainian forces at the Grafenwöhr test site in Germany.

Milli, who saw the new combined weapons exercise for the first time during a two-hour visit yesterday, said it would better prepare Ukrainian troops to launch an offensive or escalate Russian attacks.

More than 600 Ukrainian soldiers began an expanded training program at the camp just a day before Millie’s arrival.

Series of meetings with defense leaders

Millie and other defense officials will meet with the so-called “Ukrainian Contact Group” at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday and Friday, following meetings in Brussels tomorrow and Thursday.

Working to coordinate military aid to Ukraine, the group is made up of about 50 senior Defense Department officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

These meetings are expected to focus on Ukraine’s current and future military needs as rugged terrain in winter gives way to muddy roads and fields in spring.

After losing territory it had been seizing for months, Russia recently claimed to have taken control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar.

Ukraine says its troops are still resisting here. The capture of Soledar by the Russian forces will allow them to get a little closer to the larger city of Bakhmut.

More recently, airstrikes over the weekend have resulted in Russia hitting the capital, Kyiv, the city of Kharkov in the northeast, and Dnieper in the southeast. The death toll from the attack on an apartment in Dnipro has risen to 44 people.

Western experts point to signs that the Kremlin is preparing for a protracted war and say the Russian military command center is preparing for an expanded mobilization effort.

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