US pushing Ukraine to lower conscription age to increase troops to fight Russia

The United States has urged Ukraine to lower its age of conscription from 25 to 18 in a bid to boost its outnumbered military in the war against Russia.
A senior Biden administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the US has pushed Ukraine to make the changes because “the pure math” shows that the Ukrainian army needs more troops in the fight against a much larger Russian military.
Ukrainian officials reportedly think they need about 160,000 more soldiers, but the US believes that number should be much higher.
Over a million Ukrainians have joined the military, including National Guard and other units.
In April, Ukraine lowered its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25.
The change was projected to add about 50,000 troops, which fell short of what officials said was needed at the time.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law granting debt forgiveness to new army recruits who sign up to fight in Ukraine, in a bid to boost its own military.
Under the legislation, people who sign up for a one-year contract can have bad debts of up to $96,000 written off. It also applies to the spouses of new recruits.
In September, Putin urged the military to increase its troops by 180,000.
The US, South Korea and Ukraine have said that around 10,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia in October.
Earlier this month, reports emerged that some of the North Korean troops had already begun engaging in combat on the front lines. Moscow and Pyongyang have not responded directly to the reports.
The Biden administration has pushed more than $56 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022, with billions more expected to be sent before Donald Trump takes office in January.
Trump has previously claimed he could end the war between the two sides “within a day” and has raised concerns that he could cut military funding to Ukraine during his second term.