US Decision on Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine Expected This Week
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US may make a decision this week regarding the controversial issue of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, as reported by CBS News on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials.
Kiev and its supporters in the US have been advocating for this move for several months.
Cluster munitions are weapons that disperse numerous small bomblets over a wide area to increase lethality. Some of these submunitions fail to detonate and remain hazardous for decades, especially to unsuspecting children who may come across them.
While over 100 countries, including NATO members in Europe, have signed a convention banning the use of cluster munitions, the US, Ukraine, and Russia have not. The specific artillery shells requested by Kiev from the Pentagon are the dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), which were stockpiled in significant quantities by the US during the Cold War.
Under US arms export regulations, the export of cluster munitions like DPICMs with a dud rate exceeding 1% is prohibited, meaning that more than one in a hundred bomblets fail to explode.
The Pentagon has assessed that providing such weapons to Kiev would be highly beneficial in their conflict against Russia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper mentioned "existing congressional restrictions" and "concerns about allied unity" as obstacles to the deliveries during a US House subcommittee meeting last month.
Members of the congressional Helsinki Commission urged the White House to overcome these obstacles, stating in a letter that Ukraine would use the munitions "to their intended use" – countering Russia's superiority in terms of numbers and equipment. The letter emphasized the potential of using the untapped arsenal to secure victory for Ukraine and restore peace in Europe.
Although Kiev initiated a promised counteroffensive against Russia last month, it has not achieved significant territorial gains. Ukrainian officials, including President Vladimir Zelensky, have attributed the lackluster results to the slow delivery of Western arms, claiming that it allowed their opponents to prepare defenses.
Moscow has accused the US and its allies of waging a proxy war against Russia, with Ukraine serving as one of the tools. Russian officials have stated that Western arms supplies prolong the armed conflict but will not alter its outcome.
