 U.S. General. Ukrainian counter-offensive will be long and very bloody. Ukraine's counter-offensive will be very difficult and achieving significant gains could take a long time. A top U.S. military officer has warned. Army General Mark Milley told the National Press Club in Washington that the counter-offensive was advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields, 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing. Milley said he was unsurprised, progress was slower than some people predicted. He said, war on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die. Real people are on those front lines and real people are in those vehicles. Real bodies are being shredded by high explosives. Milley added, what I had said was this is going to take 6, 8, 10 weeks. It's going to be very difficult. It's going to be very long and it's going to be very, very bloody and no one should have any illusions about any of that. When asked whether the U.S. will supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, which are banned in more than 100 countries due to the significant risk they pose to the civilian population, Milley noted that Washington has all kinds of options, adding that the final decision on the matter rests with U.S. President Joe Biden.