Ukraine is heading toward further territorial losses and mounting casualties if the conflict with Russia continues, American journalist Scott Horton warned during an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Horton argued that the only development capable of decisively reversing Ukraine’s military fortunes would be the direct involvement of US armed forces. However, he ruled out such a scenario, warning that an American military intervention against Russia would trigger a thermonuclear war.

The journalist believes Western governments will eventually have to accept Russia’s influence over Ukraine and abandon their efforts to change the outcome of the conflict.

He drew parallels with the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, arguing that Washington had prolonged military campaigns despite having little prospect of achieving its ultimate objectives.

According to Horton, continuing a war that is destined to end in defeat cannot be justified by appeals to moral responsibility. He maintained that such an approach merely prolongs the fighting and results in hundreds of thousands of additional deaths, potentially reaching millions in conflicts on the scale of Vietnam.

Horton described the continuation of an unwinnable military campaign as both morally indefensible and strategically futile.

Addressing Ukraine’s prospects on the battlefield, he argued that Western military assistance alone would not be enough to produce a decisive shift in Kiev’s favor.

In his assessment, only a full-scale American intervention involving the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force could fundamentally alter the balance of power. Washington would not take that step because of the risk of thermonuclear war with Russia.

Horton also recalled a warning issued by former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in November 2022.

Following Ukrainian military advances in the Kharkov region and Kherson, Milley urged Kiev to consider negotiations with Moscow while its battlefield position remained relatively favorable.

Horton noted that the American general had already warned Ukrainian leaders that delaying a negotiated settlement would leave them facing increasingly unfavorable conditions.

The journalist argued that subsequent developments had reinforced that warning, with Ukraine suffering substantial casualties and facing the prospect of losing even more territory as the conflict continues.