The meeting in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, between Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief
Helsinki: The top US military officer met with his Russian counterpart Wednesday, against the backdrop of US struggles to get military basing rights and other counterterrorism support in countries bordering Afghanistan a move Moscow has flatly opposed. The meeting in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, between Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov comes at a crucial time in the wake of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Without troops on the ground, the U.S. needs to forge more basing, intelligence sharing and other agreements to help monitor al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan to ensure they are not regrouping and posing a threat to America and its allies. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said in July, however, that Moscow warned the U.S. that any deployment of American troops in countries neighboring Afghanistan is unacceptable.” He said Russia told the U.S. in a direct and straightforward way that it would change a lot of things not only in our perceptions of what’s going on in that important region, but also in our relations with the United States. Ryabkov also said that Russia had a frank talk with the Central Asian countries to warn them not to allow U.S. troops within their borders. Milley declined to provide details of the meeting to reporters traveling with him to Helsinki. In a statement Wednesday, Col. Dave Butler, Milley’s spokesman, said the meeting was a continuation of talks aimed at improving military leadership communication between the two nations for the purposes of risk reduction and operational de-confliction. Butler said both sides agreed not to disclose details of the talks, which has been the practice in previous meetings and calls. But just a few days ago, Milley made it clear the basing issue was a key topic on his mind on this European trip, saying he discussed it with NATO counterparts when they met in Athens over the weekend.
