Foreign Affairs

Mark Milley Says Americans Oppose Ukraine Aid Because They Have ‘Had It With Wars’

(DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack Sanders)

Mark Milley, the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Americans probably oppose Ukraine aid because they are exhausted with “forever wars” in an interview with the Financial Times published Friday.

Failure to continue backing Ukraine’s resistance against the invading Russians is “signalling a deathblow” to the U.S.-led, rules-based international order, Milley, who led the Pentagon’s operational Ukraine efforts until his retirement in September, said, according to the FT. But, he admitted that many Americans have soured on Ukraine aid because they don’t want to see the U.S. involved in a protracted war after having just emerged from two decades of conflict in the Middle East.

“Absolutely, one hundred percent,” Milley told the FT. “They’ve kind of had it with wars and forever wars.”

Milley said the war in Ukraine had reached a “stalemate” that could not be broken without surging European and U.S. aid, as further military support from the U.S. is in jeopardy in Congress, the FT reported.

Over time, he said, Russia could gain the strategic upper hand.

“It will be tragic, because at that point the Ukrainians will no longer be able to successfully defend themselves,” he told the FT.

Despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Milley argued the U.S.-led, rules-based order has prevented America from directly fighting a peer or near-peer country, which would be far more devastating.

“Those rules have done a lot to make the United States a very rich, powerful, capable country,” he told the FT.

U.S. funds for security aid to Ukraine dried up at the end of the year, and the last time the Pentagon approved a security assistance package was Dec. 27. Congress continues to wrestle over a controversial government funding bill that includes$60 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Officials and experts have warned the consequences of a prolonged gap in U.S. assistance could be devastating and may have contributed to the loss of Avdiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine that fell to the Russians after months-long attritional fighting. The U.S. is by far the largest supporter of Ukraine in terms of weapons and military equipment, according to data compiled by the Kiel Institute.

Biden administration has provided more than $44.2 billion in military aid alone since Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a Pentagon fact sheet.

The GOP-led House and Democrat-led Senate have passed multiple government funding extensions without additional aid for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s pending retirement could see a less pro-Ukraine Republican take power. So far, Senate Republicans have demonstrated openness to Democratic-led efforts to pass legislation authorizing more aid to Ukraine unfettered to border security measures, although the House has stymied those efforts.

General Mark A. Milley ’80, the retired 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is joining @PrincetonSPIA as a Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and Visiting Lecturer. https://t.co/gr94hf8UcZ

— Princeton University (@Princeton) February 15, 2024

The West collectively provided more than $100 billion in military aid alone for Ukraine to mount a defense and counteroffensive against Russia in the first two years, the Kiel Institute found. But, it remains an open question whether the political will exists throughout the world to maintain that level of support through the coming year and into the next.