The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has reached a stalemate, a senior US intelligence official said, offering a downbeat assessment of a counteroffensive that some US and European leaders had hoped would turn the tide in Kyiv’s favor.

“Certainly we are at a bit of a stalemate,” John Kirchhofer, the US Defense Intelligence Agency chief of staff, said at a conference in Washington on Thursday. “One of the things that the Russian leadership believes is that they can outlast the support of the West.”

Kirchhofer’s outlook about the state of Ukraine’s counteroffensive contrasted with more optimistic assessments from other US officials including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who said last month that Ukrainian forces were “advancing steadily.” At the same time, Milley said no one should have any illlusions about how the fight would be “very long” and “very bloody.”

Kirchhofer was similarly downbeat about Ukraine’s demand for more — and more powerful — weapons from the US and its allies. He cited the US decision to send cluster bombs and HIMARS rocket systems to Ukraine, as well as the UK’s provision of Storm Shadow missiles.

“None of these unfortunately, are the holy grail that Ukrainians looking for that will allow them to break through,” Kirchhofer said.

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