WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia is far from a failure, but the fight ahead will be long and bloody, the top U.S. general said on Tuesday, even as casualties on both sides mount and the front lines have moved only incrementally.
The United States and other allies have spent months building Ukraine a "mountain of steel" of weaponry and training Ukrainian forces in combined arms techniques to help Kyiv pierce formidable Russian defenses during its counter-offensive.
Asked whether the counter-offensive was a failure, at least so far, General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "It is far from a failure.
Moscow says the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.
Six weeks since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the east and south, Russia is mounting a ground offensive of its own in the northeast.
Persons:
Mark Milley, Milley, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Doina, Chris Reese, Leslie Adler
Organizations:
Joint Chiefs, Staff, Kyiv, Thomson
Locations:
Russia, United States, Ukraine, Kyiv, Bakhmut, Moscow, Kupiansk