The US and Russia agreed Thursday to reestablish high-level military dialogue for the first time in more than four years in another sign of warming relations between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to office and sought to end the war in Ukraine.
High-level military communication was suspended in late 2021, as tension between Moscow and Washington rose ahead of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump then campaigned for a second term on promises that he would swiftly end the fighting.
Many of his proposals for peace have heavily favored the Kremlin, including requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.
The restored communication channel “will provide a consistent military-to-military contact as the parties continue to work towards a lasting peace,” the U.S. European Command said in a statement. The agreement emerged from a meeting between senior Russian and American military officials in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
US Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who is the commander in Europe of both US and NATO forces, was in Abu Dhabi, where talks between American, Russian and Ukrainian officials on ending the war entered a second day.
Meanwhile, Moscow escalated its attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in an apparent effort to deny civilians power and to weaken public support for the fight, while hostilities continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking through eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.
The resumption of the military hotline marks an effort to ease tensions that soared after the start of the war and to avoid collisions between Russian and US forces.
In one such incident in March 2023, the American military said it ditched an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea after a pair of Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on it, and then one of them struck its propeller while flying in international airspace.
Moscow has denied that its warplanes hit the drone, alleging that it crashed while making a sharp maneuver. The Kremlin said its aircraft reacted to a violation of a no-fly zone Russia has established in the area near Crimea.
