Expert explains why the U.S. demands to mobilize 18-year-olds

The United States insists on lowering the age of mobilization in Ukraine to 18 years. This issue is mainly political, not military-political, and can be resolved in different ways.

This was stated by Pavlo Lakiichuk, Head of Security Programs at the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", in an interview with Channel 24.

Why the U.S. wants the mobilization age in Ukraine to be lowered

According to Lakiichuk, the United States is less interested in the process of mobilization in Ukraine and more in its effectiveness. If the current mobilization measures provided sufficient resources, the issue of lowering the age of conscripts would not be raised.

Pavlo Lakiichuk emphasized that many Ukrainian brigades remain understaffed. This reduces the combat readiness of the units even by Ukrainian standards, not to mention NATO standards.

The expert emphasized that in the West, the conscription age in the event of war or local conflicts is usually between 18 and 50 years old. This is probably why our partners are wondering why Ukraine does not lower the age for mobilization in the face of a shortage of personnel.

According to Mr. Lakiichuk, this issue is mainly political, not military-political, and can be resolved in various ways.

As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the need to focus on providing existing brigades with modern equipment and quality training, rather than lowering the conscription age.

We would like to add that mobilization in Ukraine begins at the age of 25, but there are certain categories of citizens who can be drafted into the Armed Forces before reaching this age.