During a joint press conference with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin following the Jan. 20 Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley repeated his contention that the war in Ukraine will end on a negotiation, though attributing that view to others. “President Biden, President Zelenskyy and most of the leaders of Europe have said that this war is likely to end in a negotiation,” he said. “And from a military standpoint, this is a very, very difficult fight.”
“I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from all—every inch of Ukraine and occupied—or Russian-occupied Ukraine. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen; doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it’d be very, very difficult,” Milley stated. “I think what can happen is a continued defense stabilized in the front. I think it’s possible to clearly do that, and I think it’s, depending on the delivery and training of all of this equipment, I do think it’s very, very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical—or even operational-level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible, and then … we’ll see where it goes.”
