An official from the administration of US President Joe Biden said that Ukraine should consider lowering the draft age for its soldiers to 18 years old.
A senior US administration official said this on Wednesday, November 27, Reuters reports.
Speaking to reporters, the official said that Ukraine is not mobilizing and training enough new soldiers to participate in the war.
"We need manpower now. The russians are actually making progress, steady progress in the east, and they are starting to push back the Ukrainian lines in Kursk ... Mobilization and an increase in the number of personnel could significantly affect the situation on the battlefield," he said.
The Associated Press News reports that the mentioned senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the military draft age to 18 from the current 25 to help expand the reserve of men of military age.
Specifically, the official said that the “pure math” of the situation Ukraine now finds itself in is that it needs more troops to fight.
The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they will likely need more.
The official added that the administration believes Ukraine can also optimize its current army by more aggressively dealing with soldiers who desert or take voluntary leave.
In addition, according to European officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also hearing concerns from allies in other Western capitals that Ukraine has a problem with the number of troops, not weapons.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in October, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov already commented on statements about US pressure on mobilization from the age of 18. According to him, discussions on this issue sometimes take place because Ukraine's partners "want to understand why we are not mobilizing people from 18 to 25."
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian leadership currently has no plans to lower the mobilization age, in particular to 18.
On November 19, Zelenskyy denied the possibility of lowering the mobilization age.
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