Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration has been urging Ukraine to start drafting men aged 18 and over into its army, arguing the move was now necessary to fend off Russia.
According to a report by the Associated Press on November 28, the US White House said it believed that lowering the draft age of 25 by seven years was needed to overcome Moscow’s troop advantage in the conflict.
One anonymous official told the agnecy that the situation was “pure math”, with Kyiv not recruiting enough soldiers to keep up with its losses.
White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett did not confirm the claim but said the US was ready to increase its support for the country, although only if greater effort was put into onboarding more local troops.
“Manpower is the most vital need,” he said.
“So, we’re also ready to ramp up our training capacity if they take appropriate steps to fill out their ranks.”
#Trump understands West must end #Ukraine war to pull #Russia from #China, writes ✍? @ConradMBlack
Read the full comment ?? https://t.co/GcAoDyJwdf pic.twitter.com/2XdHF9mQoJ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 21, 2024
The Biden White House has boosted support for Ukraine in recent days with its decision to allow the country to use American long-range ATACMS missiles to strike the Russian mainland being seen as a notable escalation in the conflict.
That came after reports that North Korea had deployed around 10,000 troops in the Russian region of Kursk, where they were said to have seen active combat against counter-invading Ukrainian forces.
It also came after the re-election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has been critical of Ukraine Government and has promised to end the war within days of his win in early November.
While such a promise did not come to pass, Trump has remained committed to seeing the conflict concluded soon after he enters office in January 2025, although experts have expressed doubt as to whether he would be capable of forcing Russia to compromise on the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that the Ukraine conflict is now a “global” confrontation, directly blaming the West for causing the escalation. https://t.co/hwrdkBtDMZ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 22, 2024
