US general says its very difficult to eject Russian forces from occupied territories this year

General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday that it would be very, very difficult to eject Russian forces from occupied territories this year but that does not mean it cannot and will not happen.

At a news conference in Germany, General Milley said, “From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Ukraine and occupied or Russian-occupied Ukraine.”

He said,“That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it would be very, very difficult. I think what can happen is a continued defence stabilised in the front.”

General Milley said depending on the delivery of US equipment and training of the Ukrainian military, it is very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical or even operational-level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible.

The United States announced another USD 2.5 billion military assistance package for Ukraine to combat Russian aggression on Thursday, bringing the total US military assistance to USD 27.5 billion.