The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, at a briefing at the Pentagon, said that the chances of Russia, which now controls about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory, to take over the entire country are "close to zero." His words are quoted by Defense One .
Milley noted that now might be the right time to start peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
“The Russian armed forces are facing enormous difficulties,” he added, pointing to heavy losses of Russian tanks, military vehicles, fighter jets and helicopters.
If the fighting slows down, Milley said, it could open a "window" for negotiations on a political settlement.
Milley believes that Russia has failed in its attempts to achieve each of its goals that it set in the war.
“Every time the Russians were defeated. They lost strategically, they lost operationally, and they lost tactically. What they tried to do, they failed,” Milli said, noting, in particular, recent failures in the Kherson region.
At the same time, the general does not believe that Ukraine can achieve a complete military victory in the foreseeable future and completely recapture its territories, including Crimea. “All I want to say is that now there is an opportunity for negotiations,” he said.
On November 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced the return of control over Kherson, which Russia seized in early March. The city was occupied for more than eight months.
