The US’ top general played down the odds of any near-term military victory by Ukraine, in a rare assessment of the war on Wednesday, cautioning that Russia still had significant combat power despite recent setbacks.

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is unlikely that Kyiv can militarily force Russia out of all of the territory it occupies, in a Pentagon press conference.

“The probability of a Ukrainian military victory – defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine to include what they claim as Crimea – the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high, militarily,” Gen. Milley said.

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“Politically, there may be a political solution where, politically, the Russians withdraw. That’s possible,” he added, saying Russia “right now is on its back.”

However, he also acknowledged that Moscow is “hurting bad” and will likely struggle through the cold weather in the coming months, when operations “naturally slow down”.

Read more: The Telegraph