Enlist 18-year-olds, Former NATO Envoy under Obama Advises Kiev
Former US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder has called on Ukraine to reduce the mandatory conscription age to 18. More details can be found by reading the full article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Kiev should enlist 18-year-olds to bolster its military efforts against Russia, asserted former US ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder.
Ukraine recently reduced the conscription age from 27 to 25, aiming to increase the number of troops through a substantial revamp of the military service framework.
“This is a war being fought by 40-year-olds,” Daalder commented during an interview with Euronews at the recent NATO summit in the US. “No other war in history has been fought by 40-year-olds.”
“You need to get 18-year-olds, and you need to get 20-year-olds, and you need to get 21-year-olds, which is what every army in the rest of the world relies on,” he continued.
While both Ukraine and Russia maintain conscription policies for young men, neither typically sends 18-year-olds directly to the front lines. Russia maintains that it primarily uses contracted volunteers rather than mobilized reservists in its ongoing conflict, recruiting about 1,000 persons daily, state senior Russian officials.
Daalder, who served during President Barack Obama's administration, now leads the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, which promotes a proactive foreign policy stance.
Following significant losses last year while trying to repel Russian advances with Western-supplied arms, Kiev has revamped its military strategy. Draft evasion became a significant challenge, driving many Ukrainian men to desperately seek ways to flee across the western borders.
Just weeks before President Volodymyr Zelensky officially reduced the draft age, US Senator Lindsey Graham visited Kiev and voiced his support for this change. He remarked, “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27. You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving – not at 25 or 27.”
Following the implementation of the new conscription rules in May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed Ukrainian citizens, encouraging them to support the mobilization efforts. “Your recent mobilization was a difficult decision, but a necessary one,” Blinken said during a speech at a Ukrainian university. He asserted that enlisting would “allow you to harden your defenses, to build more units, to take the fight to Russian aggressors.”
Ukrainian legislator Roman Lozinsky mentioned last month that further lowering the draft age might be considered "if we are still fighting for our existence." His party, Golos, is widely regarded as pro-U.S. in its stance.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
Ukraine recently reduced the conscription age from 27 to 25, aiming to increase the number of troops through a substantial revamp of the military service framework.
“This is a war being fought by 40-year-olds,” Daalder commented during an interview with Euronews at the recent NATO summit in the US. “No other war in history has been fought by 40-year-olds.”
“You need to get 18-year-olds, and you need to get 20-year-olds, and you need to get 21-year-olds, which is what every army in the rest of the world relies on,” he continued.
While both Ukraine and Russia maintain conscription policies for young men, neither typically sends 18-year-olds directly to the front lines. Russia maintains that it primarily uses contracted volunteers rather than mobilized reservists in its ongoing conflict, recruiting about 1,000 persons daily, state senior Russian officials.
Daalder, who served during President Barack Obama's administration, now leads the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, which promotes a proactive foreign policy stance.
Following significant losses last year while trying to repel Russian advances with Western-supplied arms, Kiev has revamped its military strategy. Draft evasion became a significant challenge, driving many Ukrainian men to desperately seek ways to flee across the western borders.
Just weeks before President Volodymyr Zelensky officially reduced the draft age, US Senator Lindsey Graham visited Kiev and voiced his support for this change. He remarked, “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27. You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving – not at 25 or 27.”
Following the implementation of the new conscription rules in May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed Ukrainian citizens, encouraging them to support the mobilization efforts. “Your recent mobilization was a difficult decision, but a necessary one,” Blinken said during a speech at a Ukrainian university. He asserted that enlisting would “allow you to harden your defenses, to build more units, to take the fight to Russian aggressors.”
Ukrainian legislator Roman Lozinsky mentioned last month that further lowering the draft age might be considered "if we are still fighting for our existence." His party, Golos, is widely regarded as pro-U.S. in its stance.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
