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Business Insider breathlessly reports that at an arms expo in Abu Dhabi, Russian soldiers came by American booths, hung out with our guys, and seemed really interested in Javelins, our exported-to-Ukraine anti-tank missiles.<\/p>\n
US Army soldiers and Russian weapons contractors both had displays at the Naval Defence & Security Exposition, a place for countries to showcase their weaponry and other combat systems, in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates this week, and they were separated by just a few yards,\u00a0 Breaking Defense reported from the event.<\/p>\n
At one point, the Russians reportedly came over to the US stand, where one soldier told Breaking Defense the mood was friendly and there was even an exchange of patches. At least one of the Russians even picked up a Javelin, an anti-tank missile system that the US military has sent to Ukraine and has been used to destroy Russian tanks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My recent experience is pretty limited, as I have been out a few decades, but I would bet that now, as when I was in, soldiers from roughly equivalent cultures probably understand, sympathize with, and get along better with their opposite number on which ever side is au courant described as “other” t han their own politicians, and many of their officers. (Yes, that was intentionally written to use as many commas as reasonably possible.)<\/p>\n
US and Russian troops crossed paths last October in Syria, where they shook hands, exchanged patches, and even posed for photographs together. The US and Russia have backed different sides of the 12-year-long brutal civil war being fought there, and while the exchange last fall was friendly, some other exchanges between US and Russian forces in Syria have been less so, such as when Russian soldiers ran American troops off the road, causing injuries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n