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UKRAINE-USA
Biden announces that he will send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help repel entrenched Russian forces along the front lines. This shipment will be framed as part of a new military aid package. The controversial move sparked outrage among some allies and humanitarian groups.
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A controversial shipment to Ukraine, which may mean a new escalation in the conflict and on which NATO washes its hands. The Joe Biden Administration has confirmed that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine. kyiv has vowed to use these controversial bombs carefully, and Washington insists it will only send the devices with a lower failure rate.
The shipment will be part of a new package of offensive aid to the country invaded by Russia. Biden said this Friday during an interview on , after the announcement, that the decision to send cluster bombs was “difficult” but necessary since “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition”.
The news came on the eve of NATO’s birthday in Lithuania, which will take place between the days July 11 and 12 in the capital, Vilniusand where the US president will likely face questions from allies about why the US would send a weapon to Ukraine that more than two-thirds of the members of the Atlantic Alliance have banned because of its record of causing large civilian casualties.
The announcement has also divided the political class in the US. In fact, some Democrats criticized the plan while some Republicans supported it and applauded the measure.
A timely, broad and much-needed defense aid package from the United States. We are grateful to the American people and President Joseph Biden @POTUS for decisive steps that bring Ukraine closer to victory over the enemy, and democracy to victory over dictatorship. The expansion…
— Volodimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) July 7, 2023
The decision to strengthen the Ukrainian defense capability comes in response to the request of President Volodimir Zelensky, who has called for military aid including ammunition, fighter jets and long-range missiles. All this after the intensification of the conflict, which has led to a greater demand from kyiv to its Western partners, and which has also reiterated the need to continue receiving artillery shells.
The controversial cluster bombs
Cluster munitions are bombs that open in midair and release small “submunitions” on a large area of land. These bombs are used to attack tanks, equipment, and troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.
Although its use has raised concerns in terms of violations of International Humanitarian Lawit is argued that munitions of this type to be provided by the United States have a reduced misfire rate.
The last large-scale use of these bombs by the United States was During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to the Pentagon.
However, they were considered a key weapon by US forces during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, according to Human Rights Watch. In the first three years of that conflict, it is estimated that the US-led coalition dropped more than 1,500 cluster bombs in that country.
Since then, more than 120 countries signed a convention that prohibits the use of cluster bombs, but the United States, Russia and Ukraine are not among them.
(With AFP and Reuters)
