“Decision postponed for a long time”
US supplies Ukraine with cluster munitions
7/7/2023, 9:12 p.m
Russia is already using them in its war of aggression, but they are banned internationally: cluster munitions. Despite the risks he is aware of, US President Biden decides to deliver the controversial missiles and bombs to Kiev.
The US government wants to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions to defend against Russia. It was a difficult decision, but US President Joe Biden decided to take the step, Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in the White House. He defended the decision: “We are aware that cluster munitions pose a risk of harm to civilians from unexploded munitions. That is why we have postponed the decision for as long as we could.”
Ukraine would use the cluster munitions in its own country for defense, Sullivan said. Russia is also using cluster munitions in Ukraine. Biden had discussed the step with the allies. “We will never leave Ukraine defenseless at this stage of the conflict. Period,” Sullivan said.
Ukraine has been demanding the delivery of cluster munitions for some time. Cluster munitions are rockets and bombs that burst in the air over the target and scatter or release many small explosive devices – so-called submunitions. Cluster munitions are controversial above all because a significant percentage of their explosive devices do not detonate but remain on site as duds, thus endangering the population even after a battle has ended.
Berlin joined the Oslo Accords
The US administration of President Joe Biden has been discussing the delivery of the much-criticized ammunition for a while. Like more than 100 other countries, Germany has joined a treaty banning cluster munitions – the so-called Oslo Convention. The US did not sign the agreement. In the treaty, states undertake “under no circumstances shall they ever use, develop, manufacture, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions to anyone”. It says, among other things, that they are determined to “end the suffering and death” caused by cluster munitions. There is concern that “cluster munitions remnants could kill or maim civilians, including women and children.”
On Friday, the federal government signaled its understanding of the US government’s plans. “We are certain that our US friends did not take the decision to supply the appropriate ammunition lightly,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Ukraine’s demand for the delivery of cluster munitions had already caused a stir at the Munich Security Conference in February. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olexander Kubrakov argued at the time that this type of ammunition could help to withstand the attackers. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pointed out that Ukraine has not signed the international treaty banning the use of cluster munitions.
Cluster munitions as an aid to counter-offensive
Recently, there were indications that the US government was considering supplying the much-criticized ammunition. Ukraine, like Russia, is already using them. The US broadcaster CNN recently reported that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is not making the progress hoped for by the US government. Cluster munitions could therefore help the Ukrainians on the battlefield. “I would like to point out that the Russians have already used cluster munitions on the battlefield,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on the subject. The USA had cluster munitions in their stocks. Ryder pointed out that older ammunition had a higher rate of duds. “We would carefully select bullets with a lower dud rate for which we have current test data,” Ryder said.
The United States is considered Ukraine’s main ally in defending against the Russian invasion. According to the Pentagon, the United States has provided or pledged more than $40 billion in military aid to Kiev since the war began in late February 2022.