WP: US officials frustrated with Ukraine’s refusal to lower draft age

The outgoing Biden administration is making a last push to provide the remaining aid to Ukraine as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to take office.

But some, according to the Washington Post, are unhappy with the way Ukraine’s leadership currently manages the war.

The publication quotes several unnamed officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to express candid views. Some of them have “taken the view that no matter what Washington does, Kyiv’s military will remain outmatched without far more soldiers to sustain its fight.”

“And even as they accelerate arms shipments, there is growing frustration with Ukraine’s leaders, who have resisted US calls to lower the country’s draft age from 25 to 18,” WP writes.

One of the quoted officials also told the WP that “the munitions gap may not be completely closed between Ukraine and Russia, but it’s gotten a whole lot better. But on the manpower side, it’s just a question of math and physics.”

The person did not specify what “may not be completely closed but it’s gotten a whole lot better” refers to in percentage or how much of the aid pledged in April was actually delivered to the frontline.

In November, President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine had received only 10% of the allocated aid.

He also wrote a post in response to Biden’s administration insistence to lower the draft age where he said that “Ukraine cannot be expected to compensate for delays in logistics or hesitation in support with the youth of our men on the front line.”

The draft age was previously lowered from 27 to 25.