He said up to 40,000 Ukrainian civilians and “well over” 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war, now in its ninth month. “The same thing probably on the Ukrainian side,” added Milley. “There has been enormous pain, human pain,” he told The Economic Club of New York. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday he was open to peace talks with Russia to end the war, but only on the condition that Russia return all occupied Ukrainian territory, provide compensation for war damage and will face prosecution for war crimes. Russia has said it is open to talks and this week announced it had begun a retreat from Kherson. Zelensky has warned that the Russians are feigning withdrawal from Kherson to draw the Ukrainian army into an entrenched battle in the strategic industrial port city, a gateway to the Russian-held Crimean peninsula. Milley, the top US military officer, said Russia had massed 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Kherson and a full withdrawal could take several weeks. “Early indicators are that they actually do. They made the public announcement that they were doing so. I believe they are doing it to maintain their strength to restore defense lines south of the (Dnieper) river, but that remains to be seen,” he said. Milley said it was possible the Russians would use the retreat to redeploy troops for a spring offensive, but “there’s also an opportunity here, a window of opportunity to negotiate.” But for negotiations to have a chance, both Russia and Ukraine would have to come to a “mutual recognition” that a military victory “may not be possible through military means, and therefore you have to turn to other means,” he said Milley, citing the end of World War I as an example.
title: “100 000 Russian Troops Killed Or Wounded In Ukraine Us Says " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-19” author: “Drew Power”
Russia’s announced withdrawal from Kherson, a regional capital in southern Ukraine it seized early in the war, and a potential stalemate in fighting over the winter could give both countries a chance to negotiate peace, Gen. Mark Miley, chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday. He said up to 40,000 Ukrainian civilians and “well over” 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war, now in its ninth month. “The same thing probably on the Ukrainian side,” added Milley. “There has been enormous pain, human pain,” he told The Economic Club of New York. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday he was open to peace talks with Russia to end the war, but only on the condition that Russia return all occupied Ukrainian territory, provide compensation for war damage and will face prosecution for war crimes. Russia has said it is open to talks and this week announced it had begun a retreat from Kherson. Zelensky has warned that the Russians are feigning withdrawal from Kherson to draw the Ukrainian army into an entrenched battle in the strategic industrial port city, a gateway to the Russian-held Crimean peninsula. Milley, the top US military officer, said Russia had massed 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Kherson and a full withdrawal could take several weeks. “The initial indicators are that they are in fact doing it. They have made the public announcement that they are doing it. I believe they are doing it to maintain their power to restore the defense lines south of the (Dnieper) river, but that remains to be seen,” he said. Milley said it was possible the Russians would use the retreat to redeploy troops for a spring offensive, but “there’s also an opportunity here, a window of opportunity to negotiate.” But for negotiations to have a chance, both Russia and Ukraine would have to reach a “mutual recognition” that a military victory “perhaps cannot be achieved by military means, and therefore you have to turn to other means ,” Milley said, citing the end of World War I as an example.
