US tells Ukraine to lower conscription age to 18 to stem manpower shortage

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world

The US has pressed Ukraine to lower its military recruitment age to 18 to address a severe shortage of manpower that has weakened its position on the battlefield and led to the fastest Russian gains in two years.

A senior US administration official on Wednesday said Kyiv needed to drop the minimum conscription age from 25 to help withstand Russia’s offensive.

“The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilising or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia’s growing military,” the senior official said.

Washington’s request comes as the Biden administration is rushing to deploy $7bn in security assistance to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

Ukraine should “look hard at the ages of individuals that they are willing to recruit, balancing the need to invest in future generations with the current requirements of the battlefield”, the senior US official said.

Ukraine has said it needs 160,000 soldiers to fill out its ranks, which the US sees as “on the low end”, the official said.

But so far Ukraine has been unwilling to conscript under-25s, with Ukrainian officials worried about the demographic challenges the country faces.

“Let there be no speculation — our state is not preparing to lower the mobilisation age,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told parliament last week.

While the Biden administration has eventually approved many of Kyiv’s requests for weapons and given permission to use them inside Russia, officials believe this will not be enough to have a decisive impact.

“Our view has been that there’s not one weapon system that makes a difference in this battle. It’s about manpower, and Ukraine needs to do more, in our view, to firm up its lines in terms of the number of forces it has on the front lines,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week.

The fighting in Kursk and along Ukraine’s south-eastern front in the Donetsk region has escalated in recent weeks, as the warring sides look to strengthen their positions and seize the initiative on the battlefield before Trump takes office.

The president-elect has vowed to bring a swift end to the nearly three-year war, sparking fears among Kyiv’s allies that he would force Ukraine to accept Moscow’s terms.

Trump on Wednesday tapped 80-year-old retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg to be his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, elevating a trusted aide who earlier this year sketched out a plan to freeze the conflict and pressure Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table.

Russian forces have advanced in recent months at the fastest rate since the early weeks of the invasion in 2022. They are pressing towards the key eastern cities of Pokrovsk, Kurakhove and Velyka Novosilka — linchpins for Ukraine’s defence in the south-east.

Russia’s forces have been bolstered by the arrival of 11,000 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, where Moscow is trying to wrest back territory taken by the Ukrainians in a surprise incursion in August.

Senior Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times this week that the North Koreans have now been deployed from staging grounds to Russia’s second line and are being trained in modern warfare.

But deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, told the FT that Ukraine didn’t need to lower its draft age. “The US should equip Ukraine’s brigades” with the training and weapons they need to defend the country, she said.