The White House is actively calling on the Ukrainian authorities to lower the minimum conscription age to 18, reports The Associated Press . According to a high-ranking employee of the US administration, the decision was dictated by the inexorable "mathematics" of the situation in which Ukraine found itself due to the long armed conflict with Russia.
According to the official, the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the US administration believes they will likely need more.
European allies have also stressed that insufficient defense depth may soon make it impossible for Ukraine to continue holding the border region of Kursk, which it captured this year.
The situation in Kursk has become even more complicated with the arrival of thousands of North Korean troops, sent to assist Moscow in its efforts to regain lost territories.
"There are no easy answers to the serious labor shortage in Ukraine, but lowering the draft age could help," said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center for Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Ukraine has taken steps to increase the number of men eligible for the draft, but these measures appear insufficient against the backdrop of the much larger Russian army.
The Biden administration official added that the administration believes Ukraine can also optimize its current forces by dealing more aggressively with soldiers who desert or go on unpaid leave.
