Problem of lack of people at front in Ukraine has become "more acute", age of mobilization should be lowered - Sullivan

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National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Jake Sullivan

US President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Ukraine would have to decide to lower the draft age to 18, but that it was Kyiv's sovereign decision.

Sullivan said this in an interview with Bloomberg Television, Censor.NET reports.

He was asked what he thought of the statement by his successor, Mike Waltz, who said the day before that Ukraine was facing a serious shortage of human resources because the draft age was not 18.

In response, Sullivan reminded that Ukraine had lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25 and adopted a number of other changes to make it easier for people under 25 to join the Defence Forces.

But you have to admit that the problem of personnel in Ukraine has become more acute over the past year. Ukraine's need to fully staff its brigades and battalions while we provide huge amounts of military equipment has become greater. We have said this bluntly," Sullivan emphasized.

He noted that Biden's team had informed Trump's team about this.

"Let's see how this will develop in the future. Ultimately, this is a sovereign decision that Ukraine has to make on its own. But we have been clear, even publicly said, that the issue of human resources is important. It's something that Ukraine has to deal with, even when we do our part by providing them with the ammunition they need," Sullivan concluded.

Earlier, the State Department stated that if the mobilisation age in Ukraine is lowered to 18, the United States and its allies are ready to provide equipment to Ukrainian recruits.

Author: Ольга Кошарна