Urgent! Uncle Sam tells Ukraine to throw more young people into war

US Blinken pressures Ukraine to send more young people to war while the future of a generation is already at risk in the conflict with Russia

Ukraine needs to recruit more young people into the army to succeed in the war waged against it by Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

Blinken’s comments, in an interview with Reuters, reflect a growing view among Western officials that Kyiv urgently needs more manpower, as well as money and ammunition, to reverse Russian advances on the battlefield. The current call-up begins at age 25.

Ukraine’s allies have avoided raising the issue publicly due to their political sensitivity. However, Blinken’s comments suggest that they are now hoping that public pressure will lead Kyiv to reconsider its resistance to the mobilization of younger people.

The issue has become more acute with uncertainty over the future of US support for Ukraine, as Kyiv waits for President-elect Donald Trump to outline his policy on the war.

“These are very difficult decisions, and I completely understand and respect that,” Blinken said in the interview at NATO headquarters in Brussels after participating in a two-day meeting of the military alliance’s foreign ministers.

“But, for example, bringing younger people into combat, we think, many of us think, is necessary. Currently, young people aged 18 to 25 are not in the fight”, he added.

Without mentioning a specific age group, NATO chief Mark Rutte expressed the same general view.

“We have to make sure, obviously, that there are enough people inside Ukraine,” Rutte told reporters. “We will probably need more people on the front lines.”

Blinken said it was up to Ukrainian authorities to decide the best way to send young people into combat.

UKRAINIAN RESISTANCE

Some Ukrainian military officials privately acknowledge that personnel shortages are serious, but Kyiv has resisted calls to expand its mobilization campaign, saying it does not have enough weapons to equip the troops it already has.

Blinken said Kyiv’s allies would ensure that all those deployed received the necessary training and equipment.

“The commitment we have as an alliance and as countries supporting Ukraine is to ensure that for every force they deploy, we will provide training and equipment,” he told Reuters.

While the Russian army has covered its losses by recruiting from provinces outside Moscow, Ukraine has been building up its forces through increasingly tough drafts.

After months of deliberations, Ukraine expanded its mobilization campaign in April, making it more efficient and lowering the call-up age from 27 to 25.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he does not plan to lower the mobilization age further. Ukrainian officials want to protect younger men to prevent further demographic destruction and help rebuild the country after the war.

Thousands of Ukrainians signed up to defend their country after the Russian invasion in 2022, but those flows dried up long ago.

Some Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting since before the invasion and have no option of demobilization under current legislation. Others have fled Ukraine and the whereabouts of many are unknown.

With information from Reuters*