According to Politico, the Pentagon does not believe that Ukraine will or will soon expel Russian troops from the peninsula, which joined Russia nearly a decade ago.
Speakers included Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Laura Cooper and Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims.
The House Representative for the Armed Services declined to comment.
According to experts, the assessment of the participants in the press conference repeats what was said by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, in recent weeks. “I still believe that this year it will be very difficult to get Russian troops out of the entire territory or every inch of Ukraine by military means,” he told a January 20 contact group meeting on Ukraine in Germany.
