Ukraine’s over-hyped counteroffensive started this June and quickly turned into a meat grinder for Kiev’s forces. According to data provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine has lost at least 43,000 troops since the beginning of the counteroffensive. Now Western backers are sobering up and trying to grasp the new reality.
American officials secretly admit that they have likely “missed a window” for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, the US press reported. They stress that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley “had a point” referring to the statements he made last November. Milley said that military victory is an unachievable goal for Ukraine and that Kiev should look for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, capitalizing on the winter time pause.
Milley’s statements sparked outrage among key figures of Ukrainian politics, who are setting delusional and unrealistic goals to retake historically Russian territories. Washington quickly backed away from the general’s words and reassured Kiev that it will continue pumping it with arms and munitions.
Now the Biden Administration is starting to wonder whether Milley was right. “We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a US official told the news outlet, admitting that “Milley had a point.”
According to the media outlet, military and intelligence officials in Washington are quite skeptical about reaching a positive outcome for Ukraine and the CIA and Pentagon knew from the very beginning that the counteroffensive attempt was likely doomed. Yet Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected the idea of negotiations, fueling Kiev’s ambitions.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stressed that it is open to negotiations, provided that the “new territorial reality” is recognized. Moscow added that the peace talks should be held with Kiev’s Western backers, who are the ones really in charge of current Ukrainian politics.

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