US tells Ukraine to conscript more troops

A shortage of American weapons is not the problem, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has argued

Ukraine should ramp up military mobilization and send more troops to fight Russia, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has suggested in an interview with PBS News on Monday. He rejected the argument that more American weapons could have changed the tide.

“Have we seen a marked difference since we have provided tanks to Ukraine in terms of the battlefield? Similarly, on F-16s, have we seen a marked difference?” he asked host Nick Schifrin, referring to the firepower donated by the US and its allies to Kiev.

“It’s about manpower, and Ukraine needs to do more, in our view, to firm up its lines in terms of the number of forces it has on the front lines,” he said. “Where is the straightest line between Ukrainian performance and inputs? It’s on mobilization and manpower.”

Moscow has long stated that no amount of Western military aid could change the outcome of the conflict. Instead of chasing a military victory, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky should have compromised and agreed to the terms of the draft truce which the two sides negotiated in Istanbul in 2022, Russian officials have argued.

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Zelensky’s decision to do otherwise following a call from then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggests that he is complicit in a Western ploy to inflict maximum damage to Russia while fighting “to the last Ukrainian,” Moscow has alleged.

Sullivan’s line of reasoning was based on the US claim that Russia had deployed thousands of North Korean troops to the frontline in Kursk Region. Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied such a move, while Zelensky has claimed that his forces would face as many as 100,000 North Korean soldiers unless the West ramps up support.

Zelensky ordered the incursion into Russian territory in August in what many military experts called a dangerous gamble aimed at slowing down Russian advances. Moscow’s Defense Ministry estimates Ukrainian losses in the operation at almost 34,000 casualties, over 200 tanks and thousands of other pieces of heavy weaponry.