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- US Army soldiers found themselves situated near Russian weapons contractors at an expo in Abu Dhabi.
- At one point, the Russians came over to the US booth and played with Javelins, a Breaking Defense report said.
- These weapons have been used by Ukraine to strike Russian tanks on the battlefield.
The US is arming Ukraine with deadly weapons to use on the battlefield against Russian forces, but that didn't stop Russians from coming over and checking out Washington's military hardware this week at an expo in the Middle East, according to a new report.
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, Breaking Defense reported from the event.
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.
Neither US Central Command, nor the US Army, immediately responded to Insider's requests for comment.
The US-provided FGM-148 Javelin, a portable shoulder-launched weapon, was widely seen as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in February and March of 2022. It uses an infrared guidance system to track a target's emission of light and delivers a high-explosive anti-tank warhead.
Military experts previously told Insider that the Javelin was a crucial tool that allowed Ukrainian forces to defend against an onslaught of Russian tanks and heavy armor and is one of several notable weapons that have helped Kyiv keep Moscow's troops at bay.
Although the interaction between the Russians and US Army soldiers may seem unusual given the Javelin and other US weapons, like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), are being used to attack Russian troops, the incident at th expo is not an isolated one — friendly engagement amid tension has happened before.
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.