Top US general says he expects Russia, Ukraine conflict to be ‘measured in years’

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday told the House Armed Services Committee that he expects the conflict in Ukraine to last for years.

“I do think this is a very protracted conflict, and I think it’s measured in years. I don’t know about decade, but at least years for sure,” Milley said while giving testimony on the defense budget request.

“This is a very extended conflict that Russia has initiated and I think that NATO, the United States, Ukraine and all of the allies and partners supporting Ukraine will be involved in this for quite some time,” he continued.

Milley also called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “the greatest threat to peace and security of Europe and perhaps the world” in the 42 years he has been serving in the military.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to undermine not only European peace and stability but global peace and stability that my parents and a generation of Americans fought so hard to defend,” Milley said.

Milley said that Russia and China are both in positions to challenge the “current global order.”

“We are now facing two global powers: China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities both who intend to fundamentally change the rules-based current global order,” Milley said to the committee. “We are entering a world that is becoming more unstable and the potential for significant international conflict is increasing, not decreasing.”

Lawmakers from both parties questioned the general on the kind of weapons being used in Ukraine and asked what could be done to bolster Ukrainian defense efforts.

The Biden administration is poised to send Ukraine weapons to help their defenses as the Russian invasion has moved into its second month.

It is the second batch of weapons being sent from the U.S.