America will supply Kiev with cluster munitions, banned in most of the world, and President Joseph Biden says that he has made a "very difficult decision" which, he adds, has been urged on him for a long time.
It took "some time to convince me, but I acted that way because the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition," said Biden about the decision that was met with a lot of criticism, including among high-ranking representatives of the Democratic Party, from whose ranks Biden was elected president of the USA. .
Vladimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, welcomed the American, as he said, "timely" move, and Moscow condemned Washington for "cynicism".
A NATO summit will be held in Lithuania next week, and Biden told CNN that he had discussed with allies the decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs and other types of such ammunition.
Banned in more than 120 countries worldwide, cluster munitions typically release large quantities of small, explosive submunitions that have devastating power over a wide area.
Both Ukraine and Russia have already used it in the current war, according to organizations for the protection of human rights.
"In terms of effectiveness on the battlefield, we think this [the use of cluster munitions] would be beneficial," Laura Cooper, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, said earlier.
Opponents of the use of cluster munitions warn that due to their destructive power over a wide area, they can maim and kill civilians, and unexploded projectiles remain a danger for many years after the end of the conflict.
The 2008 Convention on the Prohibition of the Production, Use and Possession of Cluster Munitions was accepted by 123 countries, including the majority of NATO members.
The US, Russia and Ukraine have refused to join the agreement.
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This type of weapon was used by NATO in the bombing of FR Yugoslavia in 1999, according to a report by the American Associated Press agency during the attack on Nis in May of that year.
During 2004, The International Court of Justice led the process in connection with the attack on FR Yugoslavia, he wrote earlier with the BBC.
NATO members then said that the court was not competent to lead such a process.
Organization Human Rights Watch condemned NATO for using cluster bombs during the attack on FR Yugoslavia.
White House: "We delayed the decision as long as we could"
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that America "recognizes that cluster munitions pose a risk of civilian injury" from unexploded bombs.
"That's why we postponed the decision as long as we could," he added at the briefing.
Sullivan said Ukraine is running out of ammunition and needs to "bridge" as the US ramps up domestic production.
"We will not leave Ukraine defenseless at any time during this period of conflict," he said.
Sullivan also told reporters that US cluster bombs being sent to Ukraine are "far safer" than those he said Russia is already using in the conflict.
He told reporters that the American ones have a non-exploding rate (failure to fire) of less than 2,5 percent, while the Russian ones have between 30-40 percent, according to the American official.
Biden's move means circumventing a US law that prohibits the production, use or transfer of cluster munitions.
Early in the war, when the White House was asked about allegations that Russia was using cluster and vacuum bombs, the press secretary at the time said it would be a potential "war crime" if true.
Marta Urtado, from the UN human rights office, said on Friday: "The use of such ammunition should stop immediately and not be used anywhere."
The Russian ambassador to the US criticized Biden's decision.
"The cruelty and cynicism with which Washington approached the issue of sending lethal weapons to Kiev is more than obvious," said Anatoly Antonov, as reported by the Tass agency.
"Now, due to the mistake of the US, there will be a risk for years that innocent civilians will be blown up by unexploded ordnance," he added.
According to analysts' estimates, the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which began last month, did not bring any tangible results, so the US administration's move can be viewed in that light as well.
Last week, Ukraine's military commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhnyi, said the limiting factor in the counteroffensive was a lack of adequate ammunition and expressed frustration at the slow delivery of weapons promised by the West.
Pentagon spokesman Colin Cull said sending cluster munitions to Ukraine would "let the Russians know that the Ukrainians will stay in the game" when it comes to war.
Many human rights organizations criticized the decision of the Biden administration, and Amnesty International said that cluster munitions pose "a serious threat to the lives of civilians, even years after the end of the conflict".
Reactions from US lawmakers on Capitol Hill to the decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine have been mixed, with some Democrats calling the decision a "terrible mistake".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the military alliance does not have a position on cluster munitions.
Germany, which signed the ban treaty, said it would not provide such bombs to Ukraine, but expressed understanding for the US position.
"We are sure that our American friends did not take the decision to supply such ammunition lightly," German government spokesman Steffen Hebstreit told reporters in Berlin.
"We have to remind once again that Russia has already used cluster munitions on a large scale in the war of aggression against Ukraine," he added.
Human Rights Watch said both sides had already used such weapons in the war, causing "numerous deaths and serious injuries to civilians."
Why is this ammunition banned?
More than 100 countries, including Great Britain, France and Germany, have signed an international agreement - the Convention on Cluster Munitions - which bans the use or stockpiling of these weapons because of their indiscriminate effect on the civilian population.
Children are especially at risk because the bombs can look like a small toy left in a residential or agricultural area and are often picked up out of curiosity.
Human rights groups have described cluster munitions as "disgusting" and even a war crime.
Who else uses this ammo?
Both Russia and Ukraine have been using cluster munitions since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories to the international convention on the prohibition of these weapons.
Neither was the USA, but it had previously criticized, as its officials stated, "Russia's extensive use of weapons."
Why did Ukraine ask for these weapons?
Ukrainian forces are desperately short of artillery shells, largely because, like the Russians, they are using them up at an extremely high rate, and Ukraine's western allies cannot make and deliver them as quickly as Kiev needs them.
On the largely static front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine, artillery has become a key weapon.
The Ukrainians now face the daunting task of trying to dislodge the Russians, who have built extremely strong defensive positions along a front of at least 1.000 kilometers.
Lacking artillery shells, Ukraine asked the US to replenish its stockpile of cluster munitions to target Russian infantry entrenched in defensive trenches.
What effect will this US decision have?
The decision has been debated in Washington for six months and is deeply unpopular with many Democrats and human rights organizations.
America and its allies accuse Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, but the move is likely to prompt accusations of US hypocrisy.
Cluster munitions are terrifying, indiscriminate weapons that are banned in much of the world for good reason.
Watch the video: What is a war crime
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