Zelenskyy clarified why he objects to 18-year-olds’ mobilization

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has once again refused to lower the mobilization age at the request of Western allies. The Head of State emphasized that the brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine need arms and equipment in the first place.

Zelenskyy said this before a meeting with the Defence Minister of Germany Boris Pistorius, UNIAN reports.

Brigades must be provided with arms

"We have heard many times signals about the age of our military, the age of mobilization, etc... You know, I will not give a very clear number because it is dangerous, but we have more than a hundred brigades on the battlefield, and each of these brigades needs manning and equipment every day," Zelenskyy said.

According to the President, one of the main problems is the lack of necessary equipment.

According to the Head of State, before talking about increasing the number of troops, it is necessary to provide the existing units with sufficient equipment and arms.

"So, when we talk about increasing the number of our people, we must understand that, firstly, there is no appropriate staffing of brigades today. We have to equip our brigades with the appropriate equipment," Zelenskyy emphasized.

The President added that all relevant requests are already in the hands of Ukraine’s Western partners.

As we wrote earlier, Zelenskyy briefed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, Chief of the General Staff Anatoliy Barhylevych, Commander of the Ground Forces Mykhailo Drapatyi and Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavlo Palisa. They discussed the current situation at the frontline.

As a reminder, during his visit to Italy, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to local journalists. He described in detail how he sees Ukraine after the end of the war.