Touch upon this storyCommentBRUSSELS — Senior Pentagon officers predicted on Thursday an extended, violent battle as Ukrainian forces try to drive occupying Russian troops out of their nation, providing their most candid feedback to this point a few new offensive marketing campaign reliant on Western army tools and coaching.Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, stated it might be “very untimely” to estimate how lengthy Ukraine’s counteroffensive might take, contemplating that Russia has a number of hundred thousand troops dug in on the entrance traces. However he characterised the operation as “a really violent battle” that can “possible take a substantial period of time — and at excessive value.”Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin, showing alongside Milley right here at NATO headquarters, noting that pictures of broken Western fight automobiles have begun to emerge from the battlefield, stated Ukrainian forces have the power to get better broken army tools and restore it.“I believe the Russians have proven us [the] similar 5 automobiles a few thousand instances from 10 totally different angles,” he stated, downplaying the importance of Ukraine’s fight losses to date within the counteroffensive. “Fairly frankly, the Ukrainians … nonetheless have a number of fight functionality.”The U.S. leaders’ feedback got here on the conclusion of a gathering of protection officers from dozens of nations invested in aiding Ukraine. Collectively, they’ve supplied tens of billions of {dollars} in army help, together with an more and more refined array of weapons that now consists of Western battle tanks and the prospect of F-16 fighter jets.It didn’t seem on Thursday that the Ukraine Protection Contact Group, because the coalition of some 50 nations is understood, had settled on a plan for outfitting Ukraine with F-16s. Austin praised the Netherlands and Denmark for agreeing final month to guide the hassle to coach Ukrainian pilots on the plane, however he stated the hassle “will take a while.”In separate remarks, Ukrainian Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov spoke excitedly about “the so-called chook coalition, or fighter jet coalition,” and stated that he had a dedication from a number of nations that coaching will happen. Along with the Netherlands and Denmark, Reznikov stated, Sweden has agreed to some type of “testing” within the effort. Sweden makes use of the Swedish-made Gripen fighter jet, quite than the F-16.The assembly happened as Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure with long-range missiles and one-way assault drones.Following one other night time of Russian strikes on cities throughout Ukraine, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy protection minister, stated earlier this week that “extraordinarily fierce battles” are raging alongside Ukraine’s 600-mile entrance line, as Kyiv amplifies its counteroffensive. Writing on Telegram, Maliar stated that Ukrainian forces had made some “partial success,” advancing a couple of hundred meters in territory close to Bakhmut within the east and Zaporizhzhia within the south.Russia’s protection ministry, in the meantime, stated that Ukraine made “unsuccessful makes an attempt” and had “important losses in manpower and tools.” The ministry additionally claimed to have thwarted dozens of assaults from Ukrainian battalions and reported a profitable strike on a warehouse storing ammunition and tools — however didn’t specify the place.Neither facet’s claims may very well be instantly verified. NATO Secretary Common Jens Stoltenberg has expressed cautious optimism on the incremental progress made by Ukrainian forces, saying they’re “making advances and liberating extra land.” However Stoltenberg, too, has conceded that it was too early to know whether or not the Ukrainian effort could be a “turning level” within the battle and warned of brutal battles forward.“No one anticipated there to be zero casualties,” he stated. “There’s fierce preventing occurring.”A Western official, talking on the situation of anonymity to temporary the press, predicted “grinding, expensive warfare for a lot of months to return.”U.S. officers have been hesitant to handle how the counteroffensive is progressing, however they’re intently monitoring the preventing, with a senior U.S. army official saying efforts already are underway to include early takeaways into the Western fight coaching being supplied to Ukrainian forces.“You don’t need to fall into the logical fallacy of claiming that the primary time one thing occurs, it’s a development,” the senior U.S. army official stated, showing to reference imagery on social media meant to recommend Ukraine’s efforts to date have been ineffective.U.S. army officers stated that greater than 57,000 Ukrainian troops have been educated by Western allies since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, together with greater than 11,000 by america.The U.S. coaching effort consists of instruction on M1 Abrams tanks, which the Biden administration pledged to Ukraine months in the past as a part of an association that earlier this yr included the switch of German-made Leopard battle tanks from a number of European allies. The Abrams coaching is predicted to be full across the finish of the summer season.In latest weeks, america and its allies have sought to steer conversations towards offering army assist for Ukraine past the present offensive, with a watch to creating safety preparations that would deter Russia long run. Diplomats from a number of member states are discussing bilateral or multilateral agreements with Ukraine alongside the traces of the agreements that channel billions of {dollars} in U.S. army assist to Israel.The concept of turning Ukraine right into a “porcupine” that would deter or repel future Russian assaults has sturdy assist from allies however falls in need of Kyiv’s calls for to affix the alliance. Nothing apart from membership would convey Ukraine underneath NATO’s mutual protection pledge.Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflictView three extra tales