Some 40,000 civilians were also killed or injured during the war, Milley said. “There has been a lot of suffering, human suffering,” he added. The Washington Post could not independently verify the figures.
Milley’s figure is a big increase from the Pentagon August estimate from 70,000 to 80,000 Russian victims. By way of comparison, the Soviet Union declared in 1988 that it had lost more than 13,000 soldiersand that more than 35,000 were wounded in Afghanistan during the war he waged there.
It comes like the The Biden administration encouraged Ukraine be more open to talks with Russia amid growing concern in the West about the cost of a protracted conflict that has sent energy and food prices soaring.
Officials in Kyiv say they are open to negotiate with Russia but set preconditions, including the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, an agreement on Russian compensation for war damage and security guarantees from other countries.
As The Post reportedThe Biden administration’s outreach to Ukraine over the peace talks has included a demand for officials there to drop their public refusal to negotiate with Russian leader President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has also signaled that it is open to talksbut its own preconditions appear to be at odds with those of Ukraine: after Russia illegally annexed four regions from Ukraine, putin said that “the only way to peace” is for Ukraine and the West to recognize that the people of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia “have become our citizens, forever”.
Despite the differences in demands between the two sides, Milley said the winter could create opportunities for peace negotiations, with Russia ordering its forces to withdraw from the strategic southern city of Kherson Wednesday. But first, he said, both sides had to recognize that a complete military victory was “may not be achievable” in this conflict, “and therefore you have to look to other means”. .
Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia could just pretend to withdraw from Kherson in an attempt to trap Ukrainian troops in a fight for the city. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, warned on Wednesday that Ukraine saw “no signs” of a unilateral withdrawal.
Action speaks louder than words. We see no sign that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight. Part of the ru group is kept in the city and additional reserves are charged to the region. 🇺🇦 liberates territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements.
— Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) November 9, 2022
US officials also said they were cautious about reports of a Russian withdrawal. “There are indications that the Russians intend to withdraw to the east bank of the Dnieper,” said Colin H. Kahl, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, said Tuesday. “We’ll have to see how it goes.”
But Milley said of the withdrawal on Wednesday: “Early indicators are that they are in fact doing it. They publicly announced that they were doing it.
He said it could take Russia weeks to withdraw its troops – 20,000 to 30,000 in Kherson – and suggested the withdrawal could be a strategic decision “to preserve their strength in order to re-establish defensive lines south of the [Dnieper] river, but that remains to be seen.
In the meantime, Milley said, there is “a window of opportunity for trading.”
“When peace can be achieved, seize it,” he said. said. “Seize the moment.”