{"id":57235,"date":"2024-11-28T15:13:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T15:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=57235"},"modified":"2024-11-28T15:13:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T15:13:34","slug":"u-s-to-ukraine-lower-conscription-age-bolster-military-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2024\/11\/28\/u-s-to-ukraine-lower-conscription-age-bolster-military-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S to Ukraine: Lower Conscription Age, Bolster Military Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>By Faith Adama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a strategic move to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s defense capabilities, the outgoing U.S. administration under President Joe Biden has recommended that Kyiv lower its conscription age from 25 to 18.<\/p>\n<p>The call comes amid escalating Russian military aggression and growing concerns over Ukraine\u2019s manpower shortages as it struggles to keep pace with Moscow\u2019s expanding military forces.<\/p>\n<p>A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the situation \u201cexistential\u201d for Ukraine, stressing that the country\u2019s current recruitment efforts are insufficient to offset the devastating battlefield losses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUkraine is not mobilizing enough soldiers to match Russia\u2019s increasingly advanced military resources,\u201d the official explained.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine had already reduced its conscription age from 27 to 25 in response to the ongoing war, which began in February 2022.<\/p>\n<p>However, the U.S. believes that further lowering the age threshold could be crucial for maintaining a robust fighting force, particularly as Russia continues to escalate its offensive.<\/p>\n<p>While the Biden administration has clarified that U.S. military aid to Ukraine is not contingent on this policy change, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stressed the importance of manpower in the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeapons and equipment are vital, but training and reinforcing Ukraine\u2019s ranks are equally critical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>This recommendation comes at a time when President-elect Donald Trump is hinting at a possible shift in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, who has previously claimed he could broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours, has nominated retired General Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Kellogg has been vocal in advocating for peace talks with Moscow and has suggested that NATO should delay offering membership to Ukraine in exchange for Russian security guarantees.<\/p>\n<p>With the Biden administration\u2019s focus on reinforcing Ukraine\u2019s military, and Trump\u2019s potential change in course, the next few months will be pivotal in determining the direction of U.S. support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Faith Adama In a strategic move to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s defense capabilities, the outgoing U.S. administration under President Joe Biden has recommended that Kyiv lower its conscription age from 25 to 18. The call comes amid escalating Russian military aggression and growing concerns over Ukraine\u2019s manpower shortages as it struggles to keep pace with Moscow\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":57236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57237,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57235\/revisions\/57237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}