The top US military officer told lawmakers Tuesday that the world is becoming more unstable and the "potential for significant international conflict is increasing, not decreasing," APA reports citing CNN.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared before the House Armed Services Committee in their first testimony before Congress since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two Pentagon leaders said the threats from both Russia and China remain significant, while they defended the US approach to the war and the flow of arms the US is sending to Ukraine.

Milley said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "the greatest threat to peace and security of Europe and perhaps the world" in his 42 years serving in the US military, but added it was "heartening" to see the world rally around Ukraine.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to undermine not only European peace and stability but global peace and stability that my parents and a generation of Americans fought so hard to defend," Milley said.

"We are now facing two global powers: China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities both who intend to fundamentally change the rules based current global order," Milley added. "We are entering a world that is becoming more unstable and the potential for significant international conflict is increasing, not decreasing."

"I do think this is a very protracted conflict, and I think it's measured in years. I don't know about decade, but at least years for sure," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday during testimony on the defense budget.

https://apa.az/en/america/ukraine-war-likely-to-last-for-years-says-us-military-officer-372726