Trump aide floats push for Ukraine to lower military draft age

WASHINGTON – A top aide in US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration signalled that Ukraine will be asked to lower the conscription age to strengthen its battlefield position ahead of any settlement with Russia.

Former Army Green Beret and combat veteran Michael Waltz, tapped by Trump to be his White House national security adviser, suggested the expanded draft-age eligibility would help Ukraine overcome a troop shortage.

Ukraine has persistently struggled with manpower issues while fighting the

full-scale invasion by Russia

almost three years ago.

“One of the things that we’ll be asking of the Ukrainians is – they have real manpower issues,” Mr Waltz said on Jan 12 on ABC’s This Week. “Their draft age right now is 26 years old, not 18. I don’t think a lot of people realise that they could generate hundreds of thousands of new soldiers.”

Ukraine lowered the wartime conscription age

to 25 from 27 in May 2024. While that appears to contradict the age cited by Mr Waltz, his broader point was clear.

“It’s about seeing the frontlines stabilised, so that we can enter into some type of deal,” he said.

Trump has said he wants to bring about an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine even before he takes office for his second presidential term on Jan 20, raising concern that an armistice would be favourable to Russia.

At the same time, he vowed in December to use American support for Ukraine as leverage against Russia to negotiate an end to the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week called on his country’s allies not to “drop the ball now” and urged continued support for its war effort during a meeting of defence ministers in Germany, including US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Last week, US President Joe Biden – days before leaving office –

announced another US$500 million (S$686.6 million) in US military assistance

to Ukraine and imposed the most sweeping and aggressive sanctions yet on Russia’s oil trade. BLOOMBERG