Mark Milli: Ukraine’s victory this year is unlikely

“Ukraine’s victory this year is unlikely”: full interview with Mark Milli Defense One

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley gave a great interview Defense One, in which he shared his thoughts on the Ukrainian conflict and the possible actions of Ukrainian troops, who, according to representatives of the Ukrainian leadership, are preparing for an imminent counteroffensive using Western weapons, including tanks and precision-guided missiles.

“Ukraine is unlikely to move all Russian troops from its territory this year,” Mark Milli said. The American general questioned the stated goal and the hopeful statements of politicians, diplomats and the military from Washington to Kyiv.

“I don’t think it will be done any time soon this year,” Mark Milley said again, explaining that it was “a very, very difficult task.”

“I’m not saying that it’s impossible to do it. I’m just saying that it’s a very difficult task,” the general said, adding that this is the goal of the Ukrainian leadership and they have the right to do so, since this is their country.

Regarding the supply of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, Mark Milley said that he would not predict in the future whether they would be sent to Kyiv. He only noted that from a military point of view, the United States has relatively few of these missiles and it is necessary to make sure that these stocks are sufficient for their own needs.

“And the range of the weapon – I think there is some exaggeration of what ATACMS can do and what not,” he said. In particular, Milli noticed that GMLRS fires six shots, and ATACM – one, while GMLRS were transferred to Ukraine.

“The ATACMS range is longer, but there are other systems that can give you that range. For example, there are UAVs that can do it, and the British have a couple of systems,” Milley said, adding that right now ATACMS missiles are not being transferred to Ukraine .

He continued by noting that the US military is now reviewing all logistics calculations for all major munitions that are required for various action plans. This assessment was influenced by the intensity of the use of ammunition in the Ukrainian conflict. The general noted that the US defense industry will take several years to make up for everything that has been spent and meet the needs of the Pentagon.

“Today we have enough ammunition to do what we need. But if you are in a serious great power war, it is best not to underestimate how much ammunition you will need,” said Mark Milley.

Recall that earlier Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev at a meeting of secretaries of the Security Councils of the SCO countries said: “Despite the steadily increasing military assistance to Ukraine from the United States and other Western states, all the declared goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved.”