On Tuesday, it became clear that the US is giving 375 million dollars more in new military aid to Ukraine. The US’s old cluster munitions are part of the aid package. – We are not against ammunition and weapons being sent to Ukraine, but what the US is doing now is emptying its stockpiles of old crap, says general secretary Raymond Johansen of Norwegian People’s Aid to news. These are cluster munitions: bomb, grenade or warhead that can contain several thousand small bombs. The small bombs are spread over a larger area, and can explode on contact. The bombs can go off several decades after they were released. – Children are particularly vulnerable Norway was an initiator of the convention on cluster munitions from 2008, which prohibits the use, production and storage of cluster munitions. The 112 countries that have signed the agreement also undertake to destroy the weapons. Neither the USA, Ukraine nor Russia have signed. However, the USA has not in practice used cluster weapons after the agreement came into place. This is what an undetonated cluster bomb might look like. Photo: FLORENT VERGNES / AFP The USA received a lot of criticism when they announced that they would send cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time in 2023. Now Norwegian People’s Aid is reacting to the country once again sending cluster munitions as part of the aid package, because the weapons have major humanitarian consequences. – It is always the civilian population who pay the highest price when these weapons are used. Since the shape and form make it tempting to pick them up, children are particularly vulnerable, says Johansen. Cluster munitions do not always explode when they hit the ground, and are scattered over large areas. The clean-up can take several decades and creates problems for the civilian population. Cluster munitions are a controversial weapon because of how they can hit civilians both during a conflict and afterwards. Here from an exercise in 2000. Photo: AFP / AFP I think cluster munitions have played their role. Ukraine, for its part, claims that they have no choice, and that they need cluster munitions when they fight against Russia, which has the same type of weapon. It is not decisive for Ukraine to have cluster munitions, believes chief researcher Ove Dullum at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute. He has researched the effect of cluster munitions against conventional grenades, i.e. grenades with one large explosive charge instead of many small ones. – It turned out that the effect of the cluster weapons was marginally better, says Dullum to news. The remains of Russian rockets and cluster munitions that hit Kharkiv in December 2022. Photo: Libkos / AP Cluster munitions were developed to compensate for the fact that grenades were inaccurate and often missed precise targets, Dullum explains. In this sense, the cluster bomb had a larger impact area. – But then one gradually got much better accuracy on the grenades. This means that the cluster munitions have almost played their role, says Dullum. At the same time, he points out that Ukraine needs ammunition if they are to have a chance of beating Russia. What do you think about the US sending cluster munitions to Ukraine? – It’s as the general secretary said, it’s to empty the warehouse of crap. It’s an apt expression, I think, says Dullum. Zelenskyj presents a victory plan for Biden The announcement of the new aid package came just before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj meets US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Ukrainian president is in the US and will, among other things, present his so-called victory plan for Biden and Harris. It is also expected that Biden will come up with a new aid package, a source told Reuters. Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the West for long-range missiles, which he believes are necessary to win the war against Russia. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced changes to the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons. Are you interested in more from the Foreign Affairs Directorate? Listen to our latest radio broadcast: Published 26.09.2024, at 13.03 Updated 26.09.2024, at 20.08
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Norwegian People’s Aid condemns the US aid package with cluster munitions to Ukraine – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
