US to announce new military aid package for Ukraine that will include cluster munitions
Thursday, 6 July 2023, 20:07
US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine, which will include cluster munitions.
Details: Officials told NPR that the new aid package will be announced on Thursday, 6 July, while Reuters reports that the announcement will take place on Friday.
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Neither outlet specified how the US will supply the weapons included in the new package; it is likely that the US will give Ukraine cluster munitions from its own army reserves.
Earlier, CBS News, citing unnamed US officials, reported that the US could decide to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions as early as this week.
Background:
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- Cluster munitions release a large number of small fragments that can injure and kill civilians. These munitions also have a relatively high rate of frangibility, making them a danger for many years after the end of a conflict.
- In 2008, over 120 countries adopted a treaty banning the production, use and stockpiling of cluster munitions. The United States, Russia, and Ukraine refused to join it.
- In late 2022, the media reported that Türkiye had begun sending Ukraine American-designed cluster munitions after months of Kyiv’s pleas to the Biden administration to provide them. Ukraine denied the reports.
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