Fighting has been going on in Ukraine for 266 days, and the defenders have recently recorded some successes. Nevertheless, the highest-ranking US General Milley does not assume that the Ukrainians will soon be able to liberate their entire territory militarily. Rather, he has a different solution in mind.
The highest-ranking US general, Mark Milley, has warned against exaggerated hopes of a short-term military victory for Ukraine. Despite the setbacks, Russia still has significant combat power in Ukraine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a press conference. “The likelihood of a Ukrainian military victory – defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine, including their claimed Crimea – is not very high militarily.”
But there could be a political solution. “It’s possible,” Milley said. Russia is “on its back at the moment”. In the face of military defeats, Russia had recently signaled its alleged willingness to negotiate more strongly. However, despite losses of territory, Russian troops still hold almost a fifth of the neighboring country. In addition, Moscow had recently again covered Ukraine with violent rocket attacks.
The Ukrainian military will also not accept any compromises in the liberation of the country from Russian occupation, according to its supreme commander Valeriy Zalushny. “Our goal is to liberate the entire Ukrainian country from Russian occupation,” Zalushnyi wrote on Telegram on Monday. The otherwise reserved general positioned himself against isolated advice from Western supporters that Ukraine should not rule out a negotiated solution.
Milley stressed that the United States was determined to continue supporting Ukraine “as long as is necessary”. In the end, Ukraine will be a free, sovereign and independent country with an intact territory. “Russia could end this war today,” added the US general. But that won’t happen. Instead, he assumes that Russia will continue the war in the winter.
