US, Ukraine military chiefs meet for first time near Polish border

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley for the first time met with his Ukrainian counterpart in person on Tuesday, traveling to an undisclosed site in Poland near the Ukrainian border, the Pentagon confirmed.  

Milley, a general in the U.S. Army, met for a few hours with Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, after taking a car from a Polish base to the unnamed location, journalists traveling with the top military official first reported. 

The two “discussed the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments,” Army Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for Milley, said in a statement. “The Chairman reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” 

Zaluzhnyi also announced the meeting on Twitter, writing that he extended his “gratitude for the unwavering support & assistance provided by [the United States] & allies to [Ukraine]” and “outlined the urgent needs of the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] which will accelerate our Victory.” 

The two generals’ get-together marks a symbolic show of support as Washington and the international community ramp up the delivery of lethal aid to Kyiv. The West as of late has pledged Patriot missile defense systems, tanks and other new weapons to the embattled country as it struggles to regain control of territory taken by Russian forces in the east and deal with a near-constant barrage of Kremlin drone and missile strikes.  

The meeting also comes as the war nears the end of its first year, with Russian forces, along with thousands of private Wagner Group contractors, appearing to dig in for the long haul. Moscow on Tuesday also announced an effort to grow its military to 1.5 million troops over the next several years.  

Milley and Zaluzhnyi, who in the past year have often spoken about the wider war and the needs of Ukraine’s military, had never met in person until now.  

Butler told reporters traveling with Milley that the two generals thought it was important to meet face-to-face, according to The Associated Press. 

“These guys have been talking on a very regular basis for about a year now, and they’ve gotten to know each other,” Butler said, as reported by the AP. “They’ve talked in detail about the defense that Ukraine is trying to do against Russia’s aggression. And it’s important — when you have two military professionals looking each other in the eye and talking about very, very important topics, there’s a difference.” 

Butler added that after it became clear Zaluzhnyi would not be able to travel to Brussels later this week for a meeting of NATO and other defense chiefs, he and Milley made alternate plans to meet in Poland. 

The group traveling to the meeting was kept small — just Milley and six of his senior staffers — with the conversation focused on new U.S. training of Ukrainian forces in Germany as well as to gather Zaluzhnyi’s concerns to then relay the information to other military leaders at the NATO meeting.  

Milley next plans to travel to Brussels, where he will participate in high-level NATO meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a gathering of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday and Friday. Milley will be joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and about 50 other top defense officials from NATO as they look to coordinate future military aid to Ukraine.