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On Friday, Mark Milley will step down and hand over the reins to his deputy, Charles Brown. This could come at the worst possible time for Ukraine, as the West increasingly shows signs of conflict fatigue and is running out of weapons—and patience—with Ukraine. 

As President Joe Biden’s top military adviser, Milley was involved in every major decision in the Ukraine conflict, from what weapons to send to Kiev to how best to train Ukrainian troops. He and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin led efforts to get the West to support Ukraine with modern weapons and equipment. 

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However, the conflict is far from over, and Millie leaves her successor with a number of problems. The West seems to be increasingly tired of the fight. And in Congress, some members of the Republican Party oppose providing additional aid to Ukraine. On the other side of the Atlantic, Poland previously said it would not send more weapons to Ukraine for now, something that was also hinted at in France. 

Brown will have to walk the same path that Milley has walked for the past year and a half, balancing between helping Ukraine without dragging the US military into a full-scale conflict. Brown will also have to try to strike a balance between Kyiv’s constant demands and the defense needs of the United States itself. Brown will have to navigate between the possible and the probable, weighing the political realities on both sides of the Atlantic as the war progresses.

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