Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday played down the chances of an outright military victory for Ukraine in the near term, warning that Russia still has significant combat power in Ukraine despite military setbacks during the invasion, Reuters reports.

“The likelihood of a Ukrainian military victory — defined as the elimination of the Russians from all of Ukraine, including Crimea — is unlikely to happen in the near term militarily,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Chiefs of staff, in – press conference.

“Politically, there can be a political solution when, politically, the Russians retreat. It is possible,” he added.

Mark Milley says Russia hasn’t achieved “every” goal in its war against Ukraine, CNN reports.

“The Russians failed every time. They lost strategically, they lost operationally, I repeat, they lost tactically. What they tried to do, they failed,” Milley said Wednesday at a news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

“The strategic redefining of their goals, their illegal invasion, they were all defeated, every single one of them.”

Milli listed Russia’s inability to “conquer all of Ukraine” at the beginning of the war, as well as after refocusing on the Donbas and seizing the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

“All along the 900-kilometer front line, the Ukrainians achieved success after success after success, and the Russians failed each time,” Milley said.

In fact, Gen. Mark Milley has made significant efforts to find a diplomatic solution in recent weeks as fighting moves into a winter lull.

But Milley’s position did not find broad support among US President Joe Biden’s national security team, including US foreign policy chief Anthony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Neither believes it is time to pressure Ukraine to negotiate, according to two administration officials familiar with the discussion.

There is a growing debate within the administration over whether Ukraine’s recent successes on the battlefield should prompt renewed efforts to seek a negotiated end to hostilities, according to officials cited by CNN.

As a result of Milli’s lobbying, the commander of Ukrainian forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, says he repeated to his American counterpart that “Ukraine’s goal is to liberate all Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation.”