The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff will meet with his Russian counterpart Thursday, the Pentagon said.

The meeting in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan comes amid reports that aides to Donald Trump had repeated contact with Russian intelligence during the US presidential campaign.

But the United States insisted Wednesday that the meeting between General Joe Dunford and the Russian military chief, General Valery Gerasimov, was not political in nature and had been planned for months.

The two men will talk about US-Russian military ties and "the importance of consistent and clear military-to-military communication to prevent miscalculation and potential crises," the Pentagon said.

The meeting comes with the White House in crisis mode after the resignation Monday of national security adviser Michael Flynn.

His resignation followed revelations that he did not give the White House a complete account of conversations he had with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions against Moscow before Trump took office in January.

Flynn, like Trump, has supported warmer ties with Russia.

Dunford said last year he was eager to meet with Gerasimov.

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