U.S. and Russia agree to resume high-level military-to-military communication

The U.S. and Russia have agreed to reestablish high-level military-to-military communication that was suspended in the fall of 2021 before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. military’s European Command announced on Thursday. 

The agreement was made while the head of U.S. European Command, Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, was in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. He was participating in trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long war. 

“Maintaining dialogue between militaries is an important factor in global stability and peace, which can only be achieved through strength, and provides a means for increased transparency and de-escalation,” European Command said in a statement. 

The resumption of military-to-military dialogue coincided with the expiration of the last remaining treaty governing nuclear weapons between the U.S. and Russia, the world’s largest nuclear powers.

The announcement came after the second round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the U.S.

The two-day talks were attended by U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, as well as Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Grynkewich. 

In a statement on Thursday, Witkoff announced the first prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia in five months. He called the negotiations “detailed and productive,” adding that “while significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”

Since the start of his second term, Mr. Trump has pushed to end the war in Ukraine, which will enter its fourth year on Feb. 24. But negotiations have run into obstacles, largely over occupied Ukrainian territory that Russia wants to retain as part of any peace agreement.

The death toll continues to climb. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that an estimated 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated in a report last month that as many as 325,000 Russian forces have been killed since 2022.