Ukraine needs to get younger people into the military to succeed in the war being waged against it by Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
Blinken's comments, in an interview with Reuters, reflect a growing view among Western officials that Kyiv urgently needs more manpower as well as money and munitions to reverse Russian battlefield gains. The call-up is currently from the age of 25.
Ukraine's allies have long avoided raising the issue publicly, given its political sensitivity. But Blinken's comments suggest they now hope public pressure will lead Kyiv to reconsider its resistance to mobilizing younger people.
The issue has become more acute with the future of US support for Ukraine uncertain as Kyiv waits for President-elect Donald Trump to outline his policy on the war.
"These are very hard decisions, and I fully both understand that and respect that," Blinken said in the interview at NATO headquarters in Brussels after attending a two-day meeting of the military alliance's foreign ministers.
"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," he added.
Without mentioning a particular age group, NATO chief Mark Rutte voiced the same general view.
"We have to make sure, obviously, also that enough people are available within Ukraine," Rutte told reporters. "We need probably more people to move to the front line."
Blinken said it was up to the Ukrainian authorities to decide how best to get younger men into the fight.
UKRAINIAN RESISTANCE
Some Ukrainian military officials acknowledge privately that manpower shortages are acute but Kyiv has resisted calls to expand its mobilization campaign, saying it has insufficient weapons to equip the troops it already has.
Blinken said Kyiv's allies would ensure all those mobilized received the necessary training and kit.
"The commitment that we have as an alliance and as countries that support Ukraine is to make sure that for every force that they mobilize, we will provide training, we'll provide equipment," he told Reuters.
While Russia's army has covered losses by relying on recruiting from provinces outside Moscow, Ukraine has boosted numbers through increasingly difficult call-ups.
After months of deliberations, Ukraine expanded its mobilization drive in April, making it more efficient and lowering the call-up age to 25 from 27.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he has no plans to lower the mobilization age further. Ukrainian officials want to protect the youngest men to avoid further demographic decimation and help rebuild the country after the war.
Many thousands of Ukrainians signed up to defend their country after Russia's invasion in 2022, but those flows have long since run dry.
Some Ukrainian troops have been fighting since before the invasion and have no option of demobilizing under current legislation. Some have fled Ukraine and the whereabouts of others in unknown.
