United States, as it keeps instigating Ukraine war instead of advocating for peace may decide to send Ukraine some contentious weapons later this week, despite the fact that cluster munitions are globally banned for use; according to a media report.
According to CBS News, which cited unnamed US officials on Wednesday, Washington may decide this week whether to approve the transfer of internationally outlawed cluster munitions to Ukraine.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), a treaty that addresses the humanitarian repercussions and intolerable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions, forbids the use of cluster bombs categorically and provides a framework for action.
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The weapons, which can have dozens of smaller bomblets inside of them and disperse over large areas, frequently kill and injure civilians. Because bomblets that have not yet detonated can endanger civilians for years after a battle has ended, CCMs are prohibited.
Typically, submunitions that are ejected by cluster munitions can cover five times as much ground as conventional bombs.
The use, manufacture, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs are all prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force in 2010. Although more than 100 nations have ratified the agreement, the US, Russia, and Ukraine have not.
The ex-Soviet republic’s high demand for ammunition in the counteroffensive against Russian forces, which is moving more slowly than anticipated, is putting pressure on the US, according to the report, which claims that Ukraine has been requesting cluster mentions from the US for months.
“According to US law, exporting cluster munitions is prohibited if the “dud rate,” or average percentage of bomblets that don’t explode, exceeds 1%. The US is considering sending dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICM, and they have a dud rate of just over 1%, which may be insignificant enough to persuade allies that the benefits of sending DPICMs outweigh the risk of unexploded bomblets.
The 155mm artillery systems that Washington has already given to Kyiv can fire DPICMs, and they could be very effective at clearing Russian defense lines, according to a report in the June 26 issue of Foreign Policy Magazine.
The same report stated at the time that President Joe Biden was being urged to give Ukraine DPICMs by a bipartisan group of US legislators.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, US media has frequently reported on the weapon shipments sent by the US to strengthen Kyiv’s armed forces, along with tens of billions in additional military aid from other NATO members.
By the beginning of January, the United States and its allies had given Ukraine more than 100 million rounds of small arms ammunition, more than a million artillery shells, and more than 100,000 tank rounds.
Russia views the Western all-out assault on Ukraine with military hardware as a fruitless attempt to influence the course of the conflict. Moscow claims that giving Kyiv more weapons will only increase the death toll, increase the devastation, and prolong the conflict.
