WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by recruiting more troops and reforming its conscription laws to allow conscription as young as 18.
A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential consultation, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the conscription age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting age. The men are there to help outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year war with Russia.
The official said the “real math” of Ukraine’s current situation is that it needs more troops in the fight.
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The White House has pushed more than $56 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022 and expects to send billions more to Kyiv before Biden leaves office in less than a month.
But over time, the Biden White House is also sharpening its view that Ukraine has the weapon it needs and now needs to significantly increase its military if it continues to fight Russia.
The official said the Ukrainians believe they need 160,000 more troops, but the US administration believes they may need more than that.
More than 1 million Ukrainians are currently in uniform, including the National Guard and other units.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been hearing concerns from allies in some Western cities that Ukraine has a military problem rather than an arms problem, according to European officials who asked not to be identified to discuss the crisis.
The European partners also emphasized that the lack of depth means that it may soon become impossible for Ukraine to continue to operate in the Kursk border region that Ukraine captured this year. The situation in Kursk has been further complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops who have come to help Moscow try to take the country back.
The increased pressure on Ukraine to strengthen its military also comes as Ukraine is waiting for President Donald Trump to take office on January 20. The Republican said he would bring an end to the war quickly and raised doubts about whether. his administration would continue US military support for Ukraine.
“There are no easy solutions to Ukraine’s labor shortage, but lowering the enlistment age will help,” said Bradley Bowman, executive director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. “This is clearly a difficult decision for the government and the community that has already endured so much because of the Russian invasion.”
Ukraine has taken steps to expand the pool of men eligible for the draft, but the effort has only hit Russia’s massive military base.
In April, Ukraine’s parliament passed a series of laws, including lowering its male-eligible age from 27 to 25, aimed at expanding the ceiling of men who can be called up for military service.
Those laws also removed some exemptions and created an online registry of employers. They were expected to add up to 50,000 troops, less than what Zelenskyy said at the time was needed.
Conscription has been a critical issue in Ukraine throughout the war. Russia’s own problems with military adequacy and planning for the start of the war prevented Moscow from taking full advantage of its edge. But the situation has changed and the US says that Ukraine’s deficit can no longer be ignored.
Some Ukrainians have expressed concern that continuing to lower the registration age and take more young people out of the workforce could backfire and damage the war-torn economy.
The official added that the administration believes that Ukraine can further enhance its current capabilities by dealing more aggressively with soldiers who flee or abscond.
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Associated Press White House correspondent Zeke Miller also issued a statement.