Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that his army could be fighting in Ukraine for a long time, but said for now there will be no second call-up of soldiers. Putin has rarely spoken about the duration of a war that he began more than nine months ago but told loyalists in a televised meeting on Wednesday it could go on for some time yet.

“This can be a long process,” he said. Russia has been forced into a series of significant retreats in the face of Ukrainian counter-offensives, waged with increasing stocks of Western weaponry, in the east and south since July. Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in February, saying Ukraine’s deepening ties with the West posed a security threat. Ukraine and its allies say the invasion amounts to an imperialist land grab.