The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden is urging the Ukrainian government of President Volodymyr Zelensky to lower the current military draft age from 25 to 18.
The White House has reportedly conducted several private consultations with Ukrainian officials to discuss lowering the mobilization age from 25 to 18 to massively expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help the badly outnumbered and outgunned Armed Forces of Ukraine. (Related: Majority of Ukraine's new conscripts are KILLED or INJURED after just a few days on the frontlines.)
One senior Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity with the Associated Press said "the pure math" of Ukraine's situation means that, apart from surrendering or otherwise suing for peace with the Kremlin, it needs more troops to fight.
The official added that, currently, Ukraine is not mobilizing or training enough troops to replace the massive losses it is incurring on the battlefield while keeping pace with Russia's rapidly growing military.
"[Ukraine should] look hard at the ages of individuals that they are willing to recruit, balancing the need to invest in future generations with the current requirements of the battlefield," the official added.
Military analysts note that Ukraine needs at least 160,000 new soldiers to fill out its ranks – the senior Biden official said this was "on the low end" of estimates.
"Our view has been that there's not one weapon system that makes a difference in this battlefield," said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. "It's about manpower, and Ukraine needs to do more, in our view, to firm up its lines in terms of the number of forces it has on the frontlines."
"[The United States is] ready to ramp up our training capacity if [Ukraine] takes appropriate steps to fill out their ranks," said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
While the White House quarrels with Kyiv regarding the speed at which it is recruiting more soldiers, the administration is pushing for the immediate delivery of even more military aid before Biden leaves office in less than two months. The White House is even rushing the approval of many of Kyiv's requests for weapons, including permitting Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to conduct strategic strikes deep inside internationally recognized Russian territory.
Ukraine unwilling to lower conscription age due to demographic challenges
A week prior, Zelensky told the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, that it would not be lowering the age of conscription due to demographic challenges the country is already facing.
"Let there be no speculation – our state is not preparing to lower the mobilization age," Zelensky said.
Ukraine has already expanded its military recruitment pool back in April when the Verkhovna Rada passed a series of laws regarding recruitment. One of those lowered the eligible age for the military draft from 27 to 25.
These laws also removed several exemptions to the draft and created an online registry for recruits. The series of laws added about 50,000 troops to the armed forces. Even at the time, this was far short of what Ukraine needed to keep its manpower up.
A day after the Biden administration reportedly asked Kyiv to lower the conscription age, Ukrainian government officials pushed back, with one source who spoke with the Associated Press claiming that the Western push to lower the draft age is part of an effort to deflect attention from the massive delays in providing military aid. Instead of trying to force Ukraine to change its laws, these officials claim the U.S. and other Western allies should speed up the delivery of Western weaponry.
"Ukraine cannot be expected to compensate for delays in logistics or hesitation in support with the youth of our men on the frontline," said presidential communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn.
Another official said lowering the draft age and recruiting more soldiers is not a substitute for countering Russia's massive advantage in equipment and weaponry.
In a short statement to the Financial Times, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna echoed Zelensky's statements, saying that the country does not need to lower its draft age and instead "the U.S. should equip Ukraine's brigades" with better training and more of the weapons needed to defend the country.
Learn the latest news regarding the state of the conflict in Ukraine at UkraineWitness.com.
Watch this news segment from Russia Today discussing the ways Kyiv punishes Ukrainian draft dodgers.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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