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Empresas y finanzas

Top U.S. and Russian military chiefs meet in Helsinki


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Russian military officers held an unannounced meeting on Tuesday in Helsinki in an effort to maintain dialogue after Moscow's crushing defeat of American ally Georgia, a U.S. military official said.

    Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Russian Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who heads Russia's general staff, to discuss a wide range of issues during a trip to Europe by Mullen, the military official said.

    "Given what's been going on over the past several months, there's certainly a need to keep the dialogue open," said the military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the meeting.

    U.S.-Russian relations have been under heightened strain since Russian forces overran areas of the former Soviet republic of Georgia in August.

    (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Kristin Roberts)