Senior Pentagon Officials Make Unannounced Visit to Kyiv for Peace, Defense Talks
Two of the most senior Pentagon officials arrived in Kyiv to deepen U.S.–Ukrainian military cooperation and to nudge Ukraine toward engagement in a potential peace framework.
The Gaze reports this, referring to Politico.
According to sources familiar with the trip, U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George are the highest-ranking defense officials to travel to Ukraine since President Donald Trump took office.
They are expected to hold meetings on Wednesday with Ukraine’s military leadership, senior political officials, and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The delegation’s primary mission, sources say, is to encourage Kyiv to participate in renewed efforts to start a peace process with Moscow, despite Russia’s repeated rejection of previous U.S. and Ukrainian diplomatic approaches.
At the same time, Washington and Kyiv are advancing work on a major technology-sharing agreement covering drones and autonomous weapons systems – a domain where Ukraine’s battlefield innovations have attracted significant U.S. interest. The visit is intended in part to accelerate the negotiations.
Two individuals aware of the planning, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of national-security discussions, confirmed the purpose of the trip.
Politico notes that sending Secretary Driscoll to Kyiv as a de facto envoy may appear unusual. However, the Army veteran – a close acquaintance of Vice President J.D. Vance from their time at Yale Law School – has become an increasingly influential figure inside the Pentagon and is expected to play a more prominent strategic role.
During a Pentagon briefing earlier this month, General George highlighted that the U.S. Army has been studying Ukraine’s rapid adoption of new technologies on the battlefield. “We’ve learned from them how to move fast,” he said, adding that the U.S. has attempted to apply these lessons in accelerated field exercises and weapons testing.
The visit comes as the U.S. government has approved a potential sale of equipment to support Ukraine’s Patriot air-defense systems. The State Department authorized the package, valued at roughly $105 million, with RTX Corporation identified as the primary contractor.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an online meeting with U.S. senators, during which they discussed the situation on the front lines, strengthening air defense, increasing pressure on Russia, and efforts to return Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.
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