US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said on Friday he does not find it surprising that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is going slower than predicted as he personally said before that it will be very long and difficult.
"That it's [the counteroffensive] going slower than people had predicted, doesn't surprise me at all," Milley said during an event hosted by the National Press Club. "What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, ten weeks. It's going to be very difficult, it's going to be very long, it's going to be very, very bloody and no one should have any illusions about it."
Milley also said that in his view time is not particularly on either side of the conflict because the latter continues to be very dynamic.
Addressing the issue of possibility of sending the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine, the top general said he is not aware of any decision.
“It's a continuous, ongoing process to my knowledge and I don't know of a decision yet, but, sure, that's a process,” Milley said during an event hosted by the National Press Club.
On Thursday, a American daily reported citing officials that the United States is close to agreeing to send ATACMS to Ukraine.