We understand the dangers of using cluster munitions

At a time when the US administration is looking Send cluster munitions to Ukrainethe White House announced that Kiev requested these munitions to defend its territory.

And he stressed in a statement, on Friday, that the United States will not leave Ukraine without defenses in this conflict.

“We understand the seriousness of the matter.”

He also continued that some allies had reservations about Washington sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, while Kiev announced its readiness to make every effort to clear mines after the end of the clashes.

He made it clear that Ukraine will only use the munitions that will arrive on its territory, indicating that Washington is aware of the danger of using cluster munitions, and that is why a decision on them has been delayed.

The White House accused Russia of using cluster munitions in its war in Ukraine, stressing that Kiev should take more measures to join NATO.

This came after a US official reported, on Friday, that President Joe Biden had agreed to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.

The official also revealed that providing cluster munitions to Kiev is in the national security interest of the United States.

US officials said Thursday that the United States plans to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion, a move opposed by human rights groups but which would give the Ukrainian counterattack a new factor of strength.

Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the weapons aid package, which includes cluster munitions fired by 155 mm howitzers, is expected to be announced today, Friday, at the earliest.

In turn, Human Rights Watch called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions, and urged the United States not to provide them. The organization said that Russian and Ukrainian forces used these munitions, which killed Ukrainian civilians.

120 countries ban it

Cluster munitions, which are banned by more than 120 countries, usually release a large number of bomblets to kill people over a large area indiscriminately, threatening the lives of civilians. Unexploded bomblets pose a danger that will last for years after a conflict ends.

A 2009 law bans the United States from exporting cluster munitions with bomblet failure rates greater than 1 percent, which applies to almost all of the US military’s stockpile.

But Biden could bypass the ban, as his predecessor Donald Trump did in January 2021 to allow the export of cluster munition technology to South Korea.

Ukraine is urging members of Congress to pressure the Biden administration to approve sending cluster munitions known as enhanced conventional dual-purpose munitions.