Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley speaks during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said that Russia can no longer achieve victory over Ukraine through military means.
In turn, Ukraine is capable of liberating all of its territories, Milley said after the 12th Ramstein Summit on May 25.
The U.S. general also added that Russia’s strategic goal – a regime change in Ukraine – failed a year ago when Russian troops failed to secure Kyiv.
Liberation is unlikely to happen in the near future, however, and the fighting ahead will be “difficult and bloody,” he added.
Earlier in April, Milley said in an interview he does not believe that Ukraine can achieve a full victory by 2023.
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The Ukrainian delegation in New York will reportedly brief the international community about the scale of destruction and will urge an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians.
The U.S. State Department approved a military sale to Ukraine for Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles and related equipment worth an estimated $825 million, the agency announced on Aug. 28.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the strike as "an attack on Hungary’s sovereignty," saying it "endangered our energy security and nearly (forced) the use of our strategic reserves."
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) struck a Russian 91N6E radar system, part of the S-400 Triumph air defense system, in occupied Crimea overnight on Aug. 28, HUR reported.
Some 219,000 Russian soldiers were killed in the war in Ukraine, Mediazona and Meduza reported, basing the calculations on the list of verified deaths and other data.
Ukrainian forces downed 46 out of the 68 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones and decoys, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Twenty-two drones managed to strike at nine different locations.
"Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said after another deadly Russian attack on Kyiv.
The buffer zone is being weighed by European leaders as an option for a ceasefire or postwar arrangement between Ukrainian and Russian forces, but the U.S. is not involved in the discussions, five unnamed European diplomats said.
"This strike clearly shows that Russia’s goals have not changed. They want war — and they are striking not only our people, not only our cities and communities. Russia is now striking at everyone in the world who seeks peace," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Anastasiia Lapatina
