(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters on Wednesday that Ukraine should lower its age of conscription from 25 years old to 18 so that it can send more of its citizens to fight in the war against Russia.
According to antiwar.com, Ukrainians ages 18 to 25 can join the military to fight but cannot be forced into combat under the latest mobilization law. That’s a problem, Blinken said Wednesday.
“These are very hard decisions, and I fully both understand that and respect that,” Blinken reportedly said in an interview with Reuters at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “But for example, getting younger people into the fight, we think, many of us think, is necessary. Right now, 18- to 25-year-olds are not in the fight.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte reportedly made similar statements.
“We have to make sure, obviously, also that enough people are available within Ukraine,” Rutte told Reuters. “We need probably more people to move to the front line.”
Russia has estimated that it’s killed or wounded some 700,000 Ukrainians since its invasion in February 2022. Russian forces have also suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties.
The push for Ukraine to lower its age of conscription comes after the Biden administration committed at least $275 million in new weapons to the war last month.
Trump’s upcoming move to the White House has triggered a scramble by the Biden administration to rapidly spend congressionally approved funding.
The Biden administration would have to rush $7.1 billion in weapons from the Pentagon’s stockpiles to spend all of those funds before Trump is sworn in.
That includes $4.3 billion from a foreign aid bill passed by Congress earlier this year and $2.8 billion still on the books in savings due to the Pentagon recalculating the value of systems sent.
As part of the wider effort, the administration also is on track to disperse its portion of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, before Biden leaves the White House, according to two senior administration officials.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
