Washington and Moscow have agreed to resume high-level military-to-military dialogue following talks in Abu Dhabi, marking the first such channel since communications were suspended ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The United States and Russia agreed Thursday to reestablish high-level military-to-military dialogue after senior American and Russian military officials met in Abu Dhabi alongside Ukrainian counterparts, according to a statement from United States European Command.
The agreement followed meetings involving Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, with senior Russian and Ukrainian military officials. The renewed channel “will provide a consistent military-to-military contact as the parties continue to work towards a lasting peace,” the command said.
High-level military communications between Washington and Moscow were suspended in 2021, shortly before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Grynkewich was in the capital of the United Arab Emirates as talks among U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian officials on ending the war entered a second day. The discussions continued as Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, with strikes aimed at disrupting electricity supplies and pressuring civilians while fighting persists along a roughly 1,000-kilometer front line across eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 55,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the invasion nearly four years ago, adding that many others are missing. He disclosed the updated figure in an interview broadcast late Wednesday on France 2. The last official figure Zelenskyy provided, in early 2025, placed battlefield deaths at 46,000.
According to Rustem Umerov, who attended the Abu Dhabi meetings, delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined Thursday by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump. Witkoff and Kushner also participated in talks held last month in the same location as the Trump administration continues efforts to steer the sides toward a settlement.
At those earlier talks, Zelenskyy described control of the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine as a key issue. Officials have not released details on any progress made during the current round of discussions.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine requires security guarantees from the United States and Europe to deter future Russian aggression. Ukrainians must see genuine movement toward peace, he said on social media late Wednesday, “not toward a scenario in which the Russians exploit everything to their advantage and continue their strikes.”
The humanitarian toll of the conflict continues to mount. Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday that Ukrainian civilian casualties increased by 31 percent last year compared with 2024. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said nearly 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and just over 40,000 injured since the start of the war through last December.
Meanwhile, Donald Tusk arrived in Kyiv on an official visit Thursday. Ukrainian authorities reported that two people were injured in overnight Russian drone strikes on the capital, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. In the surrounding Kyiv region, officials said a man suffered a chest wound from shrapnel.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 183 drones and two ballistic missiles overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 95 Ukrainian drones over several regions, the Azov Sea, and Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2016.
Original article
Comments