A European country apparently wants to make cluster munitions available to Ukraine – and ask Germany for a delivery permit. According to AFP, an official from a European country said yesterday in Washington that his country wants to deliver the controversial ammunition to Kyiv. His government has already decided on the delivery and now wants to seek approval from Germany for its participation in production.
The representative wanted to remain anonymous and did not want the name of his country to be given. Cluster munitions are internationally banned. It releases dozens of smaller explosive devices into the air that spread over an area of hundreds of square meters, indiscriminately killing or injuring people. Russia is accused of using cluster munitions in its war of aggression in Ukraine.
Regarding his government’s delivery plan, the representative of the European country said that obtaining approval from Germany would probably take some time. He argued that cluster munitions had meanwhile been technically further developed “and the collateral damage was no longer as great” as, for example, in the 1940s and 1950s.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are among the 110 or so signatories to an international convention banning the use, transport, production and storage of cluster bombs.