Ukraine’s President and former comic Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Joe Biden for the “unprecedented” support of $67.3 billion. It is used in military, humanitarian, and government aid (salaries for government workers). President Biden asked Congress for another $37.7 billion.
Ukraine also requests the U.S. send highly controversial cluster munitions, which are banned in over 100 countries.
These weapons were banned under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which was signed by most EU members but not the US, Ukraine, or Russia.
Ukraine’s request for cluster munition warheads is one of the most controversial requests since the war began in February. The Biden administration is considering it.
THE CLUSTER MUNITION
A cluster munition is an explosive weapon that releases smaller submunitions. They are imprecise by design and can cover large areas. Since some fail to explode on impact, they can also pose longer-term risks – similar to landmines.
A Ukraine official told CNN that the U.S. had not approved the request yet because they are worried that the munitions would be used against the Russian people, not just the military.
“So what, Russians use cluster munitions against us,’ the official said when asked about the negative perception of using cluster munition warheads. ‘The [US] worry is about collateral damage. We are going to use them against Russian troops, not against the Russian population.”
Russia uses them to devastating effect inside Ukraine. Russian law enforcement officials say Ukrainian troops have already used this type of weapon, killing four civilians in the city of Kherson in October.
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The proposal has not yet received significant consideration. This is largely due to the statutory restrictions that Congress has put on the US’ ability to transfer cluster munitions.
Those restrictions apply to munitions with a greater than one percent unexploded ordnance rate. Thi raises the prospect that they will pose a risk to civilians. CNN reports that President Joe Biden could override that restriction, but the administration has indicated to the Ukrainians that that is unlikely in the near term.
“The ability of Ukraine to make gains in current and upcoming phases of conflict is in no way dependent on or linked to their procuring said munitions,” a congressional aide told CNN.
Ukraine is requesting cluster munitions from the US and I couldn’t imagine anything worse for civilians. Thank you @NatashaBertrand for laying out why the majority of the world has banned this horrific weapon. Just gave a lecture at the bar. Happy to answer questions from anyone. pic.twitter.com/J6IoKJo0w7
— Alex Hiniker (@alexhiniker) December 8, 2022
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