US sends cluster bombs to Ukraine - BBC News

president zielinski has thanked the United States after Washington agreed to supply cluster bombs to Ukraine it's a weapon that has been banned by more than 100 countries around the world but Ukraine has been pressing for the artillery shells which drop multiple explosives to help with their counter-offensive against Russian forces Russia has been using the weapons since the start of the war human rights groups say cluster bombs kill indiscriminately and unexploded devices compose a danger to civilians for many years our correspondent Gordon Carrera reports from Keith Ukraine's counter-offensive has been underway for a month with heavy fighting in places like bakmut but progress has been slower than hoped Ukraine is short of ammunition and facing entrenched Russian defensive positions that's why the pressure has been growing for its Western allies to provide more weapons including cluster Munitions and today Washington gave the green light Russia has been using cluster munition since the start of this war to attack Ukraine in this environment Ukraine has been requesting cluster Munitions in order to defend its own Sovereign territory foreign these are the type of cluster Munitions the US will supply they scatter tiny bomblets but they are highly controversial the munition scatter indiscriminately over a wide area some so-called Duds do not explode leaving a threat to civilians often for years into the future very disappointed with the news today and we condemn it in the strongest and the strongest sense the transfer of cluster Munitions is contrary to international law and will lead to civilian harm there is already evidence that Russia has been using cluster bombs inside Ukraine like here in harkive more than 120 countries have signed a convention Banning their use but the U.S Ukraine and Russia have not signed up to the ban more than 50 civilians were killed in this Russian attack last year on a railway station in Crema torsk many of them were women and children trying to flee the conflict there's strong evidence that this was a cluster munition attack here in Ukraine defense officials say cluster Munitions could make a significant difference on the battlefield helping them break through Russian defenses Kiev argues that Russia has been using the weapons in Ukraine so Ukraine should have the right to use them on its own territory for its own self-defense but providing these cluster Munitions has been divisive both within Washington and among allies who've been providing weapons to Ukraine NATO's Secretary General today had to tread carefully is there not a risk that we could see first cracks in NATO's Unity when it comes to Cluster ammunition there is a difference between allies because some allies have signed the convention on clusterminations and they don't have a custom Edition so of course there is no cluster missions to provide to Ukraine president zielinski has been on the move today in Slovakia the Czech Republic and turkey drumming up support ahead of next week's crucial NATO Summit in Lithuania calling for membership and more weapons all through this war Western weapons have been vital for Ukraine but there's sometimes frustration that they've not come as quickly as Kiev wants cluster bombs have now been promised but their arrival could prove controversial Gordon Carrera BBC News Keith well let's go to Washington now and speak to our correspondent there Gary O'Donoghue and Gary president zielinski is very pleased that the US has agreed to supply cluster bombs they are not without controversy though are they no Sophie and the U.S has been thinking about this for a very long time cognizant I think that many of its allies two-thirds of NATO members have banned their use so they know this is going to be a difficult one for the Coalition members to go along with so they've been putting a lot of effort into persuading other countries this is the right decision and they've come to this decision mainly because producing enough of the standard shells is taking time they have hundreds of thousands of these cluster bombs in reserve here in the United States and they believe that the ukrainians have given them sufficient assurances that they won't be used in urban areas and they will help to be help them to clean them up after the war all those assurances will go on I think Stony ground in terms of the campaigners out there but for the Allies it does seem to have done the trick because while there's been some criticism from places like Germany you can understand that some countries will have to say something for domestic consumption but cracks in the Coalition do not seem to be a hearing and any resistance from Congress here seems to be over have overcome as well Republicans will welcome it and only a handful of Democrats expressing their opposition to it so this has been a long diplomatic process but the US does seem to brought to a position where it can supply these without ruining the unity of the Coalition that's facing Russia

Channel: BBC News

Views: 280,260

Keywords: bbc, bbc news, news, world news, breaking news, us news, world, Ukraine, US, United, States, Biden, President, Zelensky, Russia, Russian, Kyiv, war, invasion, cluster, ammunition, munitions, bombs, Washington, international, law, convention, Oslo, crime, ban, weapon, kill, maim, children, bomblets, Amnesty, human, rights, watch, Putin, Moscow, fight, risk, danger, threat, injure, offensive, front, line, fighting, artillery, shells, Sophie, Raworth, Gordon, Corera, Gary, O’donoghue

Id: ng3X2WFW0-Q

Length: 5min 14sec (314 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 07 2023