A MILITARY BASE IN SOUTHEASTERN POLAND —  

The United States’ top military officer, Army Gen. Mark Milley, traveled to a site near the Ukraine-Poland border Tuesday and talked with his Ukrainian counterpart face to face for the first time — a meeting that underscores the growing ties between the two militaries and comes at a critical time in Russia’s nearly 11-month-old war against Ukraine.

Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met for a couple of hours with Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, at an undisclosed location in southeastern Poland. The two leaders have talked frequently about Ukraine’s military needs and the state of the war over the last year but had never met face to face.

The meeting comes as the international community ramps up military assistance to Ukraine, including expanded training of Ukrainian troops by the U.S. and the provision of a Patriot missile battery, tanks and increased air-defense and other weapons systems by the U.S. and a coalition of European and other nations.

It also marks a key time in the war. Ukraine’s troops face fierce fighting in eastern Donetsk province, where Russian forces — supplemented by thousands of private Wagner Group contractors — seek to turn the tide after a series of battlefield setbacks in recent months.

Army Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for Milley, told two reporters traveling with the chairman that the two generals felt it was important to meet in person. The reporters did not accompany Milley to the meeting and, under conditions set by the military, agreed not to identify the military base in southeastern Poland where they were.

“These guys have been talking on a very regular basis for about a year now, and they’ve gotten to know each other,” Butler said. “They’ve talked in detail about the defense that Ukraine is trying to do against Russia’s aggression. And it’s important — when you have two military professionals looking each other in the eye and talking about very, very important topics, there’s a difference.”More than 600 Ukrainian troops began the expanded training program at the camp just a day before Milley arrived.