“One initiative is what Palisa called a “fair contract,” a plan that includes financial incentives and clear training guarantees”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to him, this can help to answer the calls of the USA that Ukraine should lower the mobilization age to 18 years. He added that new recruiting options are currently being studied, as the current conscription system, inherited from Soviet times, is holding back progress.
One initiative is what Palisa called an “honest contract,” a plan that includes financial incentives, clear training guarantees and measures to ensure dialogue between soldiers and their commanders. The plan is aimed at attracting mainly young people aged 18 to 25 who are currently exempt from mobilization, as well as Ukrainians who have the right to deferment or have been demobilized.
“At the moment, I think we need to start an open dialogue with society,” Palisa said. Because the protection of the state is not only the responsibility of the Armed Forces. This is the duty of every citizen of Ukraine, and it is their duty.”
The president’s office, in cooperation with the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Defense, is analyzing why mobilization efforts turned out to be insufficient, the adviser said.
“In fact, we have a huge mobilization resource. In my opinion, at the moment it is larger than we need to solve certain tasks on the front. The mechanism we currently have does not allow us to be as effective as we could be,” Palisa said.
The issue of the mobilization age has not yet been discussed with the administration of US President Donald Trump, as the contacts between the countries have not yet taken place, said at a briefing on January 23, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Georgy Tykhi.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz noted that Ukraine needs to lower the mobilization age to 18 due to human resource problems. At the same time, in December of last year, the representative of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said that if Ukraine lowers the mobilization age to 18, then all recruits will be provided with full equipment.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi, commenting on Miller’s statement, emphasized on December 10 that Ukraine should not compensate for the lack of equipment and training with young soldiers, so it is necessary to focus on providing the existing brigades. The head of state noted that “the priority should be the supply of missiles and the reduction of Russia’s military potential, not the reduction of the conscription age in Ukraine.”
The legislation of Ukraine provides for the mobilization of conscripts aged 25 to 60.