Cluster bomb: Concerns have grown over the US sending cluster bombs to Ukraine

Many US allies have expressed discomfort with Washington’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs.

On Friday, the US confirmed it had sent controversial weapons to Ukraine, with President Joe Biden calling it a “very difficult decision”.

In response, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain all said they were against the use of the weapons.

Cluster bombs are banned in more than 100 countries because of their danger to civilians.

They usually release many small bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.

The bullets also caused controversy over their failure – or dud – rate. Unexploded bombs can remain on the ground for years and then explode indiscriminately.

Biden told CNN in an interview on Friday that he had spoken to allies about the decision, which is part of a military aid package worth $800m (£626m).

The president said it took him “some time to be convinced to do it”, but he acted because “the Ukrainians ran out of ammunition”.

The decision was quickly criticized by human rights groups, with Amnesty International saying that cluster munitions pose “a serious threat to civilian lives, even long after the conflict ends”.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the American cluster bombs sent to Ukraine are less common than those already used by Russia in the conflict.

But on Saturday, some Western allies of the US refused to endorse its decision.

When asked about his position on the US decision, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed that the UK is one of 123 countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the production or use of weapons and restricts their use. .

The prime minister of New Zealand – one of the countries pushing for the creation of the convention – went further than Mr Sunak, according to comments published in local media.

Chris Hipkins said the weapons “are indiscriminate, they cause a lot of harm to innocent people, probably, and they can have lasting effects as well”. The White House announced New Zealand’s opposition to the use of cluster bombs in Ukraine, he said.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told reporters that her country has a “firm commitment” that certain weapons and bombs will not be sent to Ukraine.

“No to cluster bombs and yes to the legitimate defense of Ukraine, which we understand should not be done with cluster bombs,” he said.

The Canadian government says it is particularly concerned about the potential impact of the bombs – which sometimes go unexploded for years – on children.

Canada also says it opposes the use of cluster bombs and remains in full compliance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions. “We take seriously our obligation under the convention to encourage its universal adoption,” it said in a statement.

The US, Ukraine and Russia did not sign the convention, while Moscow and Kyiv used cluster bombs during the war.

Meanwhile, Germany, a signatory to the treaty, said that although it will not provide such weapons to Ukraine, it understands the American position.

“We are sure that our friends in the US did not decide about providing such ammunition lightly,” German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin.

Ukraine’s defense minister assured that the cluster bombs would only be used to penetrate the enemy’s defense lines, and not in urban areas.

Mr Biden’s move would violate US law that prohibits the manufacture, use or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1%.

Mr Sullivan, the US national security adviser, told reporters that US cluster bombs have a dud rate of less than 2.5%, while Russia has a dud rate of between 30-40%, he said.

The US Cluster Munition Coalition, which is part of an international civil society campaign working to eliminate the weapons, says they will cause “greater suffering, now and for decades to come”.

The UN human rights office was also critical, with a representative saying that “the use of such munitions must stop immediately and not be used anywhere”.

A spokesman for Russia’s defense ministry described the move as an “act of desperation” and “evidence of impotence in the face of the failure of the much-publicized Ukrainian ‘counter-offensive'”.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said that Ukraine’s assurances to use cluster munitions responsibly are “worthless”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously accused the US and its allies of fighting an expanding proxy war in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s counter-offensive, which began last month, continues in the eastern regions of Donetsk and southeastern Zaporizhzhia.

Last week, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, Valery Zaluzhny, said the campaign was hampered by a lack of sufficient firepower. He expressed disappointment at the slow delivery of weapons promised to the West.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US president for “a timely, broad and necessary” military aid package.

One by one, America’s Nato allies are lining up to distance themselves from its decision to supply Ukraine with controversial cluster bombs.

Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak clarified, is a signatory to the 2008 convention that prohibits their production and use – and prevents their use by others.

Canada went further, with a government statement saying it was committed to ending the effects of cluster munitions on civilians, especially children.

Spain said these weapons should not be sent to Ukraine, while Germany said it was also against the decision, although it understood the reason behind it.

Even Russia has condemned it, despite the extensive use of cluster munitions itself against Ukraine, saying it will pollute the land for generations.

But Gen Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former deputy commander in Europe, defended the decision, saying their deployment should make it easier for Ukraine to infiltrate Russian lines.

If the West had provided more weapons earlier, he said, there would be no need to provide these weapons now.