‘Global pariah Russia has lost war’: Chair of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley
Russia has lost the war in Ukraine ‘strategically, operationally and tactically’, says the US Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley.
Russia has lost the war in Ukraine “strategically, operationally and tactically”, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said in Brussels on Tuesday.
General Milley said after meeting with NATO defence ministers, and 10 days before the anniversary of Russia’s widespread invasion of Ukraine: “Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience. In short, Russia has lost; they’ve lost strategically, operationally and tactically”.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the same meeting he had “no announcement to make today” about fulfilling Ukraine’s wish for fighter jets, but urged the allies to “intensify our focus”, noting that “Ukraine has urgent requirements to help it meet this crucial moment in the course of the war”.
However there were reports in the Washington Post that apart from a reluctance to provide fighter jets, the US has told Ukraine it cannot supply long range missiles Atacms, because it needed them for its own security.
Instead the US-led Ramstein group, which comprises the NATO alliance and other like-minded countries including Australia, was trying to co-ordinate and maintain supplies of ammunition that Ukraine is burning through at more than 7000 rounds a day – a faster rate than all of Europe’s production.
Australia agreed earlier this month to supply gunpowder for French supplied shells, as part of the logistical effort to keep Ukrainian weapons fully utilised.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said fighter jets were “not the most urgent right now”, urging countries to deliver on providing tanks, infantry vehicles and artillery and replenish stocks of ammunition.
“We see no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we see is the opposite, he is preparing for more war, for new offensives and new attacks,” Mr Stoltenberg said.
Mr Austin said in his opening remarks: “Ukraine wants to create momentum … We expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring”.
He said that the western countries had provided more than US$50 billion in lethal assistance to Ukraine in the past year.
This included the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands providing Patriot air-defence systems; France and Italy providing a SAMP/T air-defence system and a consortium of countries — including Germany, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands — contributing Leopard battle tanks. In addition the United States, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands, and Poland are jointly providing more than 90 T-72 tanks while the United Kingdom has provided a company of Challenger main battle tanks.
Mr Austin told Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov the goal of the group was not just to provide equipment, but to provide “full and lasting capabilities” so Ukraine had combat-credible capabilities that matter and endure.
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