Final Word from Monday, April 29, 2024

U.S National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that the $61bn military-aid package for Ukraine obviously doesn't include troops. It includes the capabilities that the troops will need, he said, but Ukraine itself will have to supply the troops. Ukraine has passed a new mobilization law, he added, and it has also put in place a series of protocols to increase the number of forces that are being mobilized each month so that it has the manpower it needs to go along with the capabilities it is now getting from Congress. Pres. Joe Biden has already talked through with Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky the issue of mobilization and of getting enough forces forward to the fight, Sullivan said. Czech Defense Min. Jana Černochová told MFD that we have the duty to constantly engage in any way we can and that if Ukraine asks the CR to start sending home draft-age men, the necessary legislation will be passed. It seems that the $61bn aid package did indeed, indirectly at least, include the troops. [ Czech Republic president soldiers conscription ODS ]