There is a very little chance that the Ukranian forces will succeed in the military objectives they have set for themselves, a top US general has stated.
Ukraine’s stated military objective, which is to push all the Russian troops out of Ukraine, is not likely to be achieved this year, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on Friday.
Milley’s comments came after Kiev announced that it is preparing for a major spring offensive against Russian troops; however, it does not have enough weapons to carry it out.
Milley said that he did not think the Kiev forces would be able to push Russian troops out of the pro-Moscow regions in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky says that Kiev’s military objective is “to kick every Russian out of Russian-occupied Ukraine,” Milley told the outlet Defense One. “And that is a significant military task. Very, very difficult military task.”
Milley corrected himself, saying, “I’m not saying it can’t be done.”
“I don’t think it’s likely to be done in the near term for this year,” he added.
The top US general then went on to claim that the Russian troops had “failed” both strategically and tactically.
Milley has repeatedly expressed how lowly he thinks of the Kiev forces in comparison to the mighty Russian military. The American general even admitted at a press conference in November that the chances of Kiev taking Crimea back “anytime soon is not high.”