The United States expects that the decision to send cluster munitions to Kyiv will not affect the support it receives from other countries, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday.
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“We do not believe that this issue is capable of provoking a split in unity with our allies and partners … We also believe that this decision is not capable of affecting the further provision of support to Ukraine from various countries,” Miller said during a briefing.
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He also informed that Kyiv gave Washington an obligation to clear unexploded cluster munitions at the end of hostilities with Russia.
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US President Joe Biden announced on July 7 his decision to begin deliveries of cluster munitions to the Kyiv regime. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, emphasized that such supplies endanger civilians and are aimed at prolonging the crisis.
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According to the American side, Ukraine will receive 155 mm M864 cluster shells for cannon artillery, in particular for the M109 “Paladin” self-propelled guns and M777 towed howitzers.
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Cluster munitions provide a large area of kill, as they work in the air and scatter submunitions. Each M864 projectile is equipped with 72 submunitions: 48 M42 and 24 M46. The first are intended against infantry, the second – to destroy armored vehicles.
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Such cassettes are not provided with self-destruction devices. According to the US military, from 5% to 14% of this ammunition may not explode at all, as it has been lying in warehouses for a long time. In this case, they will be mines that threaten the civilian population even after the end of the conflict.
