John Kirby (AFP)
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Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Posted on: July 07, 2023: 07:06 AM GST Last updated: July 07, 2023: 07:54 AM GST
In a private meeting with the director of Al-Arabiya’s office in Washington, White House communications coordinator John Kirby revealed that the Biden administration is considering sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, but the decision has not been taken yet.
Kirby indicated that US cluster munitions are very effective. “I don’t want to get ahead of decisions that have not been made public one way or the other. There was a discussion within our joint agency about the feasibility of cluster munitions,” he added.
“I would like to state, again without prejudging the decision, that cluster munitions manufactured by the United States have a very low failure rate. They are very effective,” he added.
US officials said Thursday that the United States plans to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion, a move opposed by human rights groups but which would give the Ukrainian counterattack a new factor of strength.
New aid package
Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the weapons aid package, which includes cluster munitions fired by 155 mm howitzers, is expected to be announced today, Friday, at the earliest.
One of the officials also said that this measure has been under serious consideration for at least a week.
In turn, Human Rights Watch called on Russia and Ukraine to stop using cluster munitions and urged the United States not to provide them. The organization said that Russian and Ukrainian forces used these munitions, which killed Ukrainian civilians.
120 countries ban it
Cluster munitions, which are banned by more than 120 countries, usually release a large number of bomblets to kill people over a large area indiscriminately, threatening the lives of civilians. Unexploded bomblets pose a danger that will last for years after a conflict ends.
A 2009 law bans the United States from exporting cluster munitions with bomblet failure rates greater than 1 percent, which applies to almost all of the US military’s stockpile.
But Biden could bypass the ban, as his predecessor Donald Trump did in January 2021 to allow the export of cluster munition technology to South Korea.
Ukraine is urging members of Congress to pressure the Biden administration to approve sending cluster munitions known as enhanced conventional dual-purpose munitions.
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2023-07-07 03:06:00
