Meeting in Helsinki: what Generals Gerasimov and Milli talked about

Valery Gerasimov and Mark Milli are old acquaintances. They first met in Switzerland in December 2019. Then the generals often called up - twice this year alone.

Talking to the Associated Press journalist who accompanied him on his way back to Washington, the American military leader said that over the past two years between the United States and Russia "there have been several unpleasant incidents" due to which Milli and Gerasimov called on the phone.

According to Milli, such calls are made with the knowledge of the president and often at the request of the White House. The general noted that in those specific cases, conversations helped defuse tensions.

The general is confident that the time has come when the military should agree to observe each other's military exercises.

Mark Milli also noted that military contacts between the two powers are currently mostly limited to senior leadership, at the level of defense ministers and chiefs of staff. However, in his opinion, the United States could consider allowing the chiefs of various branches of the armed forces to forge closer relations with their Russian counterparts, which is currently prohibited. In this way, for example, the leaders of the naval forces could contact each other to avoid conflict in the face of tensions at sea.

“We need to put in place initiatives and procedures to increase confidence and reduce uncertainty, increase confidence and reduce mistrust, increase stability and reduce instability, to avoid miscalculations and reduce the likelihood of war between two major nuclear powers”, - Milli said. "This is a fundamental thing that we have to try to do, and I will try to do it".

He is convinced, emphasizes Voice of America, that it is worth exploring the possibility of sending observers to exercises and other changes. “We may not do this, but we should at least consider this possibility”, - said Milli.

The general refused to discuss in detail the content of his negotiations with Gerasimov, but, judging by the statement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was about "transparency". Their joint statement said that "both sides are seeking greater transparency in order to reduce misunderstandings and increase stability".

Despite all the friction between the two countries, the United States is hoping for some help from Russia in the fight against extremists in Afghanistan.

Washington, the general admitted, is currently trying to negotiate the rights of basing and deploying other counter-terrorism resources in countries bordering Afghanistan.

Of the Central Asian states of interest to the United States, Uzbekistan stands out, which, as you know, is not a member of the CSTO. However, in Tashkent, the Uzbek authorities gave the Americans a turn from the gate. They recalled that the constitution prohibits the deployment of foreign military bases on the territory of the country.

Judging by some indications, Washington would like the opposing Russia to soften its position so that the United States would be able to monitor the activities of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (banned in the Russian Federation - ed.) And, if necessary, apply strikes against militants who may try to attack America again.

According to Novye Izvestia, Russia has repeatedly proposed NATO measures to prevent the escalation of incidents. “In particular, we would like to move the boundaries of the exercises at a certain distance from the contact line. We also expressed specific considerations for the prevention of dangerous military incidents, in particular, by establishing the minimum permitted distance of approach between combat aircraft and warships. Moscow is ready to continue consultations on strengthening security in the airspace of the Baltic Sea, ”said Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko.