(CNN) — The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be “horrible” for the country and cause “significant” casualties, and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a path diplomatic.
“Given the type of forces that are deployed … if that were to break out in Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant and result in a significant number of casualties,” Milley said at a Pentagon news conference on Friday. “You can imagine what that would look like in dense urban areas, along highways, etc. It would be horrible. It would be terrible. And it’s not necessary. And we think a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here.”
Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed reporters on Friday about the US military’s preparations ahead of a possible Russian invasion with tens of thousands of Russian troops concentrated along the Ukrainian border, leading to Austin this week to put 8,500 US troops on standby for a possible deployment to support NATO in Eastern Europe.
Milley discussed Ukraine’s geography, noting that when its “high water table” freezes, “it makes for optimal conditions for maneuvering off-road and wheeled vehicles.”
“There are many people and very dense population centers throughout Ukraine. And if war were to break out on a possible scale and scope, the civilian population would suffer immensely,” he said.
Milley’s comments contrast with the message of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelesnky spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, where the two leaders they did not agree about the urgency of the threat posed by Russia, and Zelensky reiterated his view that the rhetoric risks causing panic in Ukraine on Friday.
“They say that tomorrow is war. This means panic,” Zelensky told reporters.
But Milley said he believes Russia’s actions “feel different” than previous escalations. “This is larger in scale and scope in the concentration of forces than anything we’ve seen in recent memory, and I think you’d have to go back quite a long time to the days of the Cold War to see something of this magnitude,” he said.
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