WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration is pushing Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by fielding more troops and revising mobilization laws to allow conscription of troops age 18 and older.
A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from the current age of 25 to expand the pool of fighters to help expand. men available to help heavily outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year war with Russia.
The official said that “the pure math” of the current situation in Ukraine is that the country needs more troops in the fight.
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The White House has sent more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022 and expects to send billions more to Kiev before Biden leaves office in less than months.
But with time running out, the Biden White House is also tightening its position that Ukraine has the weapons it needs and must now dramatically increase its troop levels if it wants to stay in the fight with Russia.
The official said the Ukrainians believe they will need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. government thinks they will likely need more than that.
More than 1 million Ukrainians are now in uniform, including the National Guard and other units.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also heard concerns from allies in other Western capitals that Ukraine has a troop-level problem and not a weapons problem, according to European officials who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic talks.
European allies have also stressed that the lack of depth means it could soon become untenable for Ukraine to continue operating in Russia's Kursk border area that Ukraine seized this year. The situation in Kursk has been further complicated by the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops to assist Moscow in its attempt to reclaim the country.
The increased pressure on Ukraine to strengthen its armed forces also comes as Ukraine braces for President-elect Donald Trump to take office on January 20. The Republican said he would bring about a quick end to the war and has raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue vital U.S. military support to Ukraine.
“There are no easy answers to Ukraine's severe labor shortage, but lowering the draft age would help,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center for Military and Political Power at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. “These are obviously difficult decisions for a government and society that has already suffered so much under the Russian invasion.”
Ukraine has taken steps to expand the pool of men eligible for conscription, but the efforts have only scratched the surface of a much larger Russian military.
In April, Ukraine's parliament passed a series of laws, including lowering the age of male eligibility from 27 to 25, aiming to broaden the universe of men who could be drafted to join the tough war .
Those laws also eliminated some draft exemptions and created an online registry for recruits. They were expected to add about 50,000 troops, far less than what Zelensky said was needed at the time.
Conscription has been a sensitive issue during the war in Ukraine. Russia's own problems with adequate troop levels and planning early in the war prevented Moscow from taking full advantage of its advantage. But the tide has turned and the US says Ukraine's deficit can no longer be overlooked.
Some Ukrainians have expressed concern that further lowering the minimum age for military service and removing more young adults from the workforce could backfire and further damage the war-ravaged economy.
The official added that the administration believes Ukraine can also optimize its current force by dealing more aggressively with soldiers who desert or leave without leave.
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Associated Press White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed reporting.
