Gen. Mark Milley, the top US military official, met his Russian counterpart Gen. Valery Gerasimov in Bern, Switzerland, today as part of an ongoing high-level military dialogue between the United States and Russia. Moscow has reportedly used the channel to seek American help to rebuild areas held by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and repatriate Syrian refugees.
Why it matters: The latest meeting between Milley and Gerasimov is a sign that the high-level channel, first set up under the previous US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Joseph Dunford, will continue apace under new leadership at the Pentagon. Al-Monitor reported in October that the United States has deconflicted operations going after al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) leadership in Syria, including the raid that took the life of IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with Russian forces, which control much of the airspace in Assad-held areas.
