Top US general delivers sober take on Ukrainian ambitions – Reuters
Kyiv will not achieve short-term military goals, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley says
The fighting in Ukraine will continue without a military solution for the foreseeable future, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.
Milley spoke alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the virtual meeting of the “Ukrainian Defense Contact Group”, a collection of Western countries pledging to provide Kiev with weapons, equipment and ammunition to use against Russia – while insisting that they are not a party to the conflict.
The strategic objectives of Ukraine are to take all the territory “busy” by Russia, where “a few hundred thousand” Russian troops are currently positioned, Milley told reporters. “It might be militarily feasible, but probably not in the short term.”
“That means the fighting will continue. It’s gonna be bloody. It’s going to be hard. And at some point both sides will either negotiate a settlement or come to a military conclusion,” he said. Meanwhile, the United States will continue to support Ukraine.
Austin and Milley insisted throughout that Kyiv weren’t losing. They described the months-long battle for Bakhmut, which Ukraine lost, as a defense triumph. They also claimed that the Ukrainians were using Patriot air defense systems supplied by the United States. “very effective.” The Russian Defense Ministry said it used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to destroy a Patriot battery in the Ukrainian capital earlier this month.
Milley also defended the decision not to send F-16 fighters to Ukraine sooner, arguing that the United States was not increasing arms deliveries as a result of public pressure, but was still sending Kiev precisely what he needed at all times, using “hardcore military analysis” cost, benefit and risk.
Deploying just ten F-16 fighters would cost $2 billion, including operations and maintenance, Milley said, while Russia has more than 1,000 modern jets. The decision was therefore made to supply Kyiv with air defenses first and to send the F-16s as a longer-term solution.
“Building up an air force of the size, scope and scale is going to take a long time,” he added. Milley said. He also warned reporters to curb their enthusiasm, as “There are no magic weapons. An F-16 is not, and nothing else either.
It has been known since February that Milley would retire at some point this year. On Thursday, US President Joe Biden nominated current Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr. to replace him.
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