The reaction from US lawmakers has been mixed. It was not an easy decision.” What’s the response to President Biden’s decision? “They’re trying to get through those trenches, and stop those tanks from rolling.

And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it. In an interview with CNN, Mr Biden said: “This is a war relating to munitions. However, Russia, Ukraine and the US are not state parties in the convention, and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance took no position on cluster munitions. They are also banned from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any activity prohibited by a state party under the convention. Those committed to the goal are prohibited from using, developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling or transferring the weapons. As of April 2023, a total of 123 states are committed to the goal of the convention, including the UK, France and Germany. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. Andrew Stroehlein, European media and editorial director at Human Rights Watch, said: “If the goal is a free Ukraine, where kids can grow up in safety and security, then using cluster munitions is not the way to get there.”Īccording to a report by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, 97 per cent of cluster munition casualties are civilians, the majority of which are children. Amnesty International says cluster munitions pose “a grave threat to civilian lives, even long after the conflict has ended”.

Military tank drawing kids