USA: American's top general says he had anticipated the operation would be bloody and drawn out from the beginning and isn't ready to admit Ukrainian forces' failure in their counteroffensive against resolute Russian defenses.

After meeting with European allies in Brussels on Tuesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told reporters, "They're in the early stages, and it's far too early to make any definitive assessments."

I believe there is still a lot of fighting to be done, and I'll reiterate what we previously said: This is going to be a long, difficult, and bloody battle.

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Last month, Kiev began its protracted counteroffensive in the Donbass region, but to this point, Ukrainian forces have been unable to breach Russian defenses. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, as of last week, they had lost over 26,000 soldiers and hundreds of armored vehicles, including tanks from the West. 

The New York Times reported on Saturday that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had halted the operation to stockpile ammunition after losing up to 20% of the weaponry used in the counteroffensive in just two weeks.

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When asked if so far, the counteroffensive had failed, Milley responded, "It is far from a failure. I believe it is far too soon to make that kind of judgment.

According to Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of Defense, "This will continue to be a tough fight, as we anticipated," and "I believe that the element that does the best in terms of sustainment will probably have the advantage at the end of the day."

Milley asserted that although Ukraine's military is "steadily progressing," "this is a very difficult fight" due to the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops stationed in defensive positions. It will probably take a long time and be expensive because the fight is so violent.

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The administration of US President Joe Biden has promised to keep giving Ukraine weapons worth billions of dollars as long as it takes for Ukraine to defeat Russia. Many Republican lawmakers and other critics of that strategy contend that Washington is engaging in a proxy conflict with Russia that is prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.