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Washington cannot tell Kiev to lower draft age, says Ukrainian deputy prime minister

According to Olga Stefanishyna, she personally views these statements as "a desire on the part of the West to lift responsibility for all these arrangements that were previously in place"

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. The decision to lower the draft age in Ukraine cannot be dictated by Washington, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna said.

"A decision on lowering the draft age in Ukraine cannot be dictated by the statements of White House officials or anyone else," she said in an interview with a Ukrainian news outlet.

According to Stefanishyna, she personally views these statements as "a desire [on the part of the West] to lift responsibility for all these arrangements that were previously in place."

Over the past several weeks, the US officials have repeatedly said openly that Ukraine must lower the draft age to hold the front. However, lowering the conscription age is a highly unpopular measure, which is why Ukrainian authorities believe that there are no such plans. In turn, Kiev says that the West does not supply enough weapons for the brigades already fighting in the special military operation zone. Nevertheless, the draft, which is now 25, does not allow to compensate for the current losses.

Ukraine is now mobilizing men between the ages of 25 and 60. The country has already lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 in April 2024. Despite the move, the Ukrainian armed forces continue to face a serious shortage of manpower. According to TASS calculations, Ukraine has lost over 900,000 servicemen since February 2022.

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