Russia and Ukraine: The United States estimates that 200,000 soldiers from both sides died in the war
General Mark Milly, the most senior officer in the US army, said that 40,000 civilians would have been killed in the armed conflict.
These figures are the highest estimates published by a Western official with regard to the war to date.
The American general said that there were signs that Kiev was ready to resume negotiations with Moscow, which could open a "window" on negotiations, as he said.
In recent days, Ukraine has hinted that it is ready to negotiate with Moscow after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky renounced his request for the resignation of Russian President Vladimir Putin before the resumption of negotiations.
But, speaking from New York, General Milly said that the success of all negotiations depends on whether Russia and Ukraine recognize that It's clear that "military techniques to win victory" are failing, thus new strategies must be used.
Millie, who holds the position of senior military adviser in President Biden's administration, added that the scale of the loss of life could convince both sides of the need to negotiate in the coming winter months when the fighting will subside due to the intense cold.
The commander estimated that "thousands" of Russian and Ukrainian troops had been killed or injured.
Ukraine and Russia are very secretive about the number of deaths in the ranks of their armed forces.
In September, Moscow announced that 5,937 of its soldiers had been killed since the start of the war and that defense minister Sergei Shoigu had denied higher figures.
Millie's estimates are obviously very high compared to the 15,000 Soviet soldiers killed during the war in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.
Ukraine refrained from announcing the number of its losses, but the chief of the general staff of the Armed Forces, Valery Zazny, said in August that by that time thousands of Ukrainian soldiers had died in the war.
The United Nations said the assessments published by the parties to the conflict were unreliable.
"The human suffering is great," Millie said, referring to the displacement of 15 to 30 million people since the beginning of the invasion by Russia on February 24.
The UN counted 7.8 million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, including Russia. But these figures do not include those who were forced to leave their homes and are still in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russia announced the withdrawal of its troops from the main city of Kherson, in the south of the country, the only major city that fell under the onslaught of Russian troops.
General Milly believes that the "indicators" indicate the beginning of the withdrawal process, but he warned that Russia had gathered thousands of troops in the city from 20 to 30, so the withdrawal could take several weeks.
"They announced that they would withdraw the troops and I think they would do it to save the lives of their soldiers, to rebuild their defenses south of the river, but we have to wait for what happens on the ground," he said.
The announcement of the withdrawal of troops from Kherson follows President Putin's decision to mobilize about 300,000 reservists to participate in hostilities in Ukraine in September.
Military experts in the West and in Ukraine consider the mobilization as proof that Russian troops are suffering a lot on the battlefields in Ukraine.
