Biden Ramps Up Pressure On Ukraine To Lower Conscription Age From 25 To 18

The Ukrainian military accepts voluntary enlistments from those 18 and older. However, in stark contrast to Americans’ experience with military drafts, Ukraine had long exempted men under 27 from being conscripted. The country’s legislature last April finally moved to lower the minimum draft age to 25.

Last spring on one of his many visits to Ukraine, hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham expressed shock upon learning that men in their early 20s in Ukraine cannot be drafted. “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe [conscription age starts] at 27,” he said at the time. “You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27.” 

When President Volodymyr Zelenskiy soon after this statement signed a bill into effect to lower the mobilization age for combat duty from 27 to 25, this took some of the pressure off for the time being.

This debate has now been renewed as President Biden, on his way out of office, is ramping up the pressure on Kiev to drastically change things.

The Associated Press reports Wednesday:

President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18.

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the 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 help expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia.

The official said “the pure math” of Ukraine’s situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight.

As the outgoing Biden administration is asking Congress to soon approve billions more for Ukraine, this conscription age change policy could serve as the quid pro quo being requested of Kiev from Washington, in order to keep the billions in arms and aid flowing.

The AP further cites an official who says the Ukrainians “believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they probably will need more than that.”

To the last Ukrainian: “White House presses Ukraine to lower draft age to meet manpower needs against Russia. President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow… pic.twitter.com/N4m052LV8d

— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) November 27, 2024

In the early days of the war, some US hawks admitted their view is that Ukraine would be willing to “fight to the last person” as long as the US continued to provide the weapons. These politicians don’t seem to actually care about Ukrainians and their future in making remarks like this.