AP: The USA urges Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18

The administration of the US President Joe Biden is calling on Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current 25 in order to quickly increase the size of the army.

The Associated Press (AP) writes about this with reference to sources.

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the "pure mathematics" of the situation in Ukraine is that it needs more troops to fight a full-scale Russian invasion.

The White House believes that Ukraine has received all the necessary weapons, so now it is necessary to quickly increase the personnel of the army. According to the official, Ukrainian calculations show that another 130 000 troops are needed, but Washington thinks that more forces will be needed.

European officials, who also spoke to AP anonymously, say President Volodymyr Zelensky also hears alliesʼ concerns that Ukraine has a manpower problem, not weapons.

On November 19, the US Presidentʼs National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the reason for the difficult situation at the front in Ukraine is the insufficient number of military personnel.

He was asked if the US could have done anything differently to support Ukraine given the current territorial losses. He replied that there is no direct proportionality between the transferred weapons and the position on the battlefield.

"Where can you find a direct connection between the effectiveness of Ukraine and its resources? This is mobilization and manpower," Sullivan emphasized.

And he added: the United States believes that there is no weapon that could change the course of the war by itself. Instead, Ukraine needs to "increase the number of front-line troops" in order to strengthen its position.

• In May, a new law on mobilization entered into force in Ukraine. Babel told and explained in detail what it envisions. It states, among other things, that conscripts under the age of 25, who have completed basic military service or training, can mobilize only at their own will.

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