The defense ministers of the US and Ukraine in Brussels in mid-June.
(Photo: Reuters)
Washington A phone call between Washington and Kiev on Thursday evening is said to have clarified a long-discussed issue: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin gave Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov “an update on American security support,” according to a Pentagon statement.
The ministry left it open what exactly it was about. But as the AP news agency reports, the United States wants to make cluster bombs available to Ukraine for the first time. The US administration of President Joe Biden has decided to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, the AP wrote, citing government circles.
An official announcement is expected to be made on Friday. Thousands of cluster bombs are therefore part of a new military aid package. The New York Times also wrote of an “upcoming announcement” about cluster bomb deliveries.
Kiev has long been demanding the deployment of so-called Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM). Banned in more than 120 countries, this cluster munition releases large numbers of smaller “bomblets” that land randomly over a wide area. Because of the high number of civilian fatalities, cluster bombs are internationally banned, and the European Union (EU) also rejects their use.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, some carriers of cluster munitions leave up to 40 percent duds in their wake, which initially do not explode and can later kill people. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said Thursday there was no final decision on the deliveries.
Biden would use it to circumvent export restrictions
The Department of Defense has “several varieties” of ammunition, Ryder said. The variant under consideration would have a significantly lower dud rate, which was “not higher than 2.35 percent”. Modern cluster bombs could thus avoid accidental deaths among the civilian population.
According to the Washington Post, since 2017 the US Congress has stipulated that the USA may not produce or distribute cluster bombs with a dud rate of more than one percent. Biden would circumvent this requirement by means of the so-called Foreign Assistance Act, the newspaper writes. The US President has the authority to overturn restrictions on arms exports when it is “vitally important to the security of United States interests”.
The debate about American cluster bombs came after the revolt of the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner army movement. The attempted coup was seen in the White House as additional potential for escalation in an already unpredictable war. After the events in Moscow, the focus shifted to what resources the USA could provide to end the war more quickly. The Biden government has so far rejected the use of tactical missiles or American fighter jets.
“Our military analysts have confirmed that DPICMs would be particularly useful against tenacious Russian positions on the battlefield,” Pentagon Secretary of State Laura Cooper told a US Congressional hearing.
Cluster bombs would be an efficient option and, most importantly, would not further burden the existing US weapons stockpile, she said. Biden has had to tap US arms depots more than 40 times to cushion the attrition in Ukraine. The burden on the armaments industry as a result of the Ukraine war should also be an issue at the NATO summit in Vilnius next week.
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