CNBC
February 17, 2022

Nation’s highest-ranking military officer intensifies outreach with regional partners

The Pentagon said Thursday that the nation’s highest-ranking military officer has continued to update NATO members and allies on the deteriorating security situation in Ukraine.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley spoke Thursday with Latvia’s Chief of Defense Lt. Gen. Leonids Kalnins and Estonia’s Chief of Defense Lt. Gen. Martin Herem in separate phone calls.

“The leaders discussed a range of issues, including security environment in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe,” Milley’s spokesman U.S. Army Col. Dave Butler wrote in a readout of the calls.

In the past week, Milley has spoken four times to Ukrainian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny as well as counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom.

Milley has also spoken to Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov and NATO Military Committee chair Adm. Rob Bauer.