The presidential office of Ukraine rules out changing the minimum age for military mobilization, thus rejecting the alleged pressures it is receiving from the United States to reduce it from 25 to 18 years.
Dmytro Litvincommunication advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, considers that the measure would be impractical given that Ukraine faces delays in the delivery of military equipment promised by its international partners. “It makes no sense to expand the mobilization when we see that the previously announced equipment is not arriving on time”Litvin stated on his social networks.
Litvin emphasizes that lack of weapons affects the ability to properly equip soldiers already incorporated into the military: “Our partners have full access to the data and They can compare the promises with the deliveries that have actually been made“. Therefore, he affirms that it is not reasonable “to expect Ukraine to compensate for these logistical delays with the deployment of our young men to the front.”
Reports on international pressures
The statement responds to publications in media such as ABC News that claim that Washington has urged kyiv to lower the mobilization age to confront the numerical superiority of the Russian army. However, the Zelensky administration has resisted, in part because of the demographic crisis that the country is going through after almost two years of war.
Military sources consulted by EFE have indicated that Ukraine needs both more personnel and additional weapons to stop Russian advances in the east and carry out counteroffensives with a chance of success.
Ukraine already introduced a new mobilization law in May that reduced the minimum age for recruitment from 27 to 25 years and replaced conscription with military training for men between 18 and 25 years old. Now, despite the needs, the Ukrainian government seems determined not to mobilize younger men, prioritizing the protection of its most vulnerable population.
