US top military officer meets with Russian counterpart
The Hindu
The meeting comes at a crucial time in the wake of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan
The top U.S. military officer met with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday, against the backdrop of U.S. 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 General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of the Russian General Staff, General 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-Qaeda and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan to ensure they are not regrouping and posing a threat to America and its allies.
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