Official: Ukraine rejects US call to lower draft age to 18
A Ukrainian official has said that Kiev dismissed the US call to lower the age of eligibility for military conscription from 25 to 18.
"Our position is as transparent as possible: we will not lower the mobilization age," the anonymous Ukrainian officials were quoted as saying on Thursday.
Reports say Ukraine's military is resorting to harsh means to force draft dodgers into fighting with Russian troops reportedly bolstered by North Korean soldiers.
Kiev's military recruiters have conducted multiple raids on restaurants and bars to find fighting-age men to fill its empty ranks exacerbated by an epidemic of desertion the Ukrainian army is experiencing.
To compensate for its shortage of troops, Kiev has been pushing the West to give it more advanced military equipment, arms and munitions.
"The army must be technologically advanced and have enough weapons. We will not compensate, for example, for the lack of weapons or their range with the youth of the guys," the Ukrainian official said.
"This is not the First World War, but a modern technological war," the official added, accusing the US-led Western countries of trying to "shift the responsibility to Ukraine" over delays in arms supplies.
Since then, the West has flooded Ukraine with a vast volume of Western arms and ammunition despite continued warnings by Moscow against the uselessness of sending tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Kiev.
US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the war when he takes office in January.
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