The top US military officer told lawmakers Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine likely could not have been prevented and warned that the Pentagon has picked up “provocative rhetoric” from Russia about its nuclear alert level.Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the conquest of Ukraine had been a “long-standing objective” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.“Candidly, short of the commitment of US forces into Ukraine proper, I am not sure he was deterrable,” Milley told the House Armed Services Committee while testifying alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “This has been a long-term objective of his that goes back years. I think the idea of deterring Putin from invading Ukraine — deterring him by the United States — would have required the use of US military forces and would have risked armed conflict with Russia, which I wouldn’t advise.”
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