'Ukraine will have to decide': Biden's team says mobilization discussed with Trump's team
Photo: US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (Getty Images)
The administration of US President Joe Biden discussed mobilization issues in Ukraine with Donald Trump's team. However, they emphasized that only Ukraine can decide on lowering the conscription age, according to a statement from Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in an interview with Bloomberg.
In particular, Sullivan noted that last year Ukraine lowered the mobilization age from 27 to 25 years. However, in his opinion, manpower issues have intensified since then. He also stated that the US has allegedly provided sufficient ammunition and equipment to fully staff Ukrainian brigades.
Sullivan emphasized that these issues had been brought to Trump's team's attention.
"Let’s see what happens now on a going-forward basis. That’s ultimately a sovereign decision Ukraine is going to have to make. But we have been crystal clear, including publicly that manpower is an acute concern and is something that Ukraine will have to address," he added.
What Trump’s team says
Earlier, Mike Waltz, Trump’s prospective National Security Advisor, stated that lowering the mobilization age is necessary to stabilize the front in Ukraine.
"And one of the things we'll be asking of the Ukrainians is they're having manpower issues. Their draft age is now 26 years old, not 18, I don't think a lot of people realize that. They can generate hundreds of thousands of new soldiers," he said.
Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that US partners are trying to persuade Kyiv to lower the mobilization age to 18. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy considers this meaningless without an adequate supply of weapons and equipment.
For more details on this issue, read the RBC-Ukraine material USA pressing, Ukraine opposing: Will mobilization age be lowered to 18 and whether it makes sense.
