Ukraine Unlikely to Defeat Russian Military Anytime Soon: Milley

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has recently said recently that Ukraine may want to negotiate sooner rather than later with Russia.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley addresses reporters at the Pentagon.

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Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Wednesday news conference at the Pentagon that it is unlikely that Ukraine will defeat Russian forces in the near future.

“The probability of a Ukrainian military victory defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine to include what they define or what the claim is Crimea, the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high, militarily,” he said.

Milley pointed out that despite recent gains by Ukraine, Russia still controls about 20 percent of the country.

“So it's not a small piece of ground,” he said, according to Defense One. “And they invaded this country with upwards of 170, 180,000 troops. They had multiple field armies, combined-arms armies, and they have suffered a tremendous amount of casualties. But [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has also done this mobilization to call up additional people. So the Russians have reinforced. They…still have significant Russian combat power inside Ukraine.” 

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Milley became the highest U.S. military official to speak publicly about how Ukraine, which has been making gains on the battlefield, might want to negotiate sooner rather than later with Russia.

Washington wants Kyiv to negotiate from a position of strength. Milley is essentially saying this could be the time, and to strike while the iron’s hot.

“We’ve seen the Ukrainian military fight the Russian military to a standstill. Now, what the future holds is not known with any degree of certainty, but we think there are some possibilities here for some diplomatic solutions,” he said in an interview with CNBC.

There is a growing debate in Washington on the timing of these negotiations. The Biden administration has insisted that Kyiv will make the final decision on its future.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was with Milley on Wednesday, told reporters that Ukraine will decide when it will negotiate. Defense One reported that Austin said he believes the war will drag on because Russia is benefiting from weapons provided by Iran and North Korea.

“And so for that reason, I don't think this will be over anytime soon,” he said.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, seemed to agree with Austin. He took issue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that he wants any peace negotiations to be done in public.

“Public negotiations are hard to imagine in the first place. No talks can be held publicly, let alone negotiations in such a field. One thing is clear: Ukraine does not want to engage in talks, the special military operation marches on and its goals must be achieved,” he said, according to AntiWar.com.