Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford on Tuesday met with his Russian and Turkish counterparts in Turkey to “discuss deconflicting” operations inside Syria. A photo posted by the Joint Staff on Twitter showed Dunford sitting next to Turkish Gen. Hulusi Akar and Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov in Antalya. The meeting, which comes on the heels of multiple close calls and other bombing incidents inside Syria, is the second time Dunford has met with Gerasimov within a month, following February’s meeting in Azerbaijan. Both meetings, according to Dunford and Defense Department officials, solely focused on deconfliction because legislation bars the US from talking about the possibility of military-to-military cooperation.
Seven F-22 Raptor pilots have recently been awarded one of the military’s highest decorations for their actions during operations in the Middle East. Six of the pilots were decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.