The top US military officer, Army Gen. Mark Milley, traveled to a site near the Ukraine-Poland border on Tuesday and talked with his Ukrainian counterpart, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi face to face for the first time — a meeting underscoring the growing ties between the two militaries and coming at a critical time as Russia’s war against Ukraine nears the one-year mark, AP reports.
“Today, I had my first personal meeting with General Mark Milley, in Poland. I thanked General Milley for the unwavering support and assistance provided by the United States and its allies to Ukraine and outlined the urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the satisfaction of which will accelerate our Victory,” Zaluzhnyi wrote.
Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met for a couple of hours with Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, at an undisclosed location in southeastern Poland. The two leaders have talked frequently about Ukraine’s military needs and the state of the war over the past year but had never met.
It also marks a key time in the war. Ukraine’s troops face fierce fighting in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, where Russian forces — supplemented by thousands of private Wagner Group contractors — seek to turn the tide after a series of battlefield setbacks in recent months.
