Russia rejected the US delivery of cluster bombs to Kiev as a “provocation”

It only took Russia a few hours to respond to the Joe Biden administration’s controversial supply decision cluster bombs in Ukraine. He did so through his ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, who raised tensions between the two powers by accusing Washington of passing a measure that “Bringing Mankind Closer to World War.”

The warning is not new, but the Kremlin is aware of the controversy caused by the delivery of this weapon, which is banned in more than a hundred countries, and is taking advantage of it to amplify that discontent. The supply of cluster bombs — which will form part of a new US military aid package to Ukraine estimated at $800 million, about 734 million euros — has not been well received by the international community and there are already several countries that have shown their misgivings.

After Germany, this Saturday Spain, Canada and Great Britain spoke out against its use, although they avoided accusing the US executive branch, which, interestingly, reported that it had just completely destroyed its arsenal of chemical weapons. “Certain weapons and bombs cannot be delivered under any circumstances”said Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles.

Washington “ignored the negative views of its allies about the dangers of its indiscriminate use,” Antonov commented, equating that attitude with “turning a blind eye to civilian casualties.” Biden admitted on Friday that sending these weapons – with a huge destructive capacity against military positions, but also against the civilian population – was a “difficult” decision.

“It is a gesture of desperation,” said the Kremlin’s ambassador to the US. “He is so obsessed with the idea of ​​defeating Russia that he does not understand the seriousness of his actions,” he continued about the move, which he considers another “provocation” toward Moscow. Although this, Antonov explained, is “really out of proportion”.

It is not known how many cluster bombs will arrive in Ukraine – hundreds of thousands are being talked about – or when, but the announcement of their shipment is in full counter-offensive and with Kiev, said Biden, “is running out of ammunition”. The truth is that these weapons — which contain dangerous submunitions capable of slipping through the smallest crack and exploding even years after launch — are already being used in this war, indeed, on both sides.

International convention

Neither Ukraine, nor Russia, nor the United States of America joined the Convention against cluster munitions held in Oslo in 2008, which is supported by more than a hundred countries such as Spain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia or South Africa. and transmission and collected by the United Nations. By providing it, said Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman, the US will “fully share responsibility for the deaths caused by the explosions, including the deaths of Russian and Ukrainian children.” It is a “cynical attempt to prolong the agony of the current authorities” in Kyiv, he said.

The decision of the American executive caused a series of reactions among the allies as well, although much more restrained. No one wanted to single out Biden. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against the invasion.” And immediately afterwards, he reminded that his country had signed an international treaty banning those weapons.

Five hundred days of war with no sign of an imminent end

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This Saturday, the war in Ukraine reached five hundred days since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on February 24, 2022. Despite the fact that the conflict is practically at a standstill and its consequences in human life and destruction are already enormous, not even a truce is in sight . It seems clear that Putin did not expect his so-called “special military operation” to “denazify and demilitarize” Ukraine to last so long, cause so many casualties among his own ranks and lead to a series of sanctions against his country’s economy. The annexation of Crimea and his relative victory in the Donbass in 2014, which forced Kiev to submit to the painful Minsk agreements promoted by then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, paved the way for the Russian leader to remain in the Kremlin beyond the 2018 elections.

The president’s calculation, according to many analysts, was probably to win another big victory ahead of the 2024 presidential election, subduing Ukraine by installing a puppet regime in Kiev. But the Kremlin has encountered numantine resistance from the Ukrainians, with its own military ill-prepared for an operation of this magnitude and with Western countries willing, if not to stop Putin’s whims, to stop them.

The first weaknesses and inadequacies of Moscow became apparent almost immediately after the start, after a month without the possibility of capturing Kiev. On March 25, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it was withdrawing its troops from the vicinity of the capital to focus efforts on “achieving the liberation of Donbas”. In the first days of the war, the Kremlin army managed to bring under its control almost the entire region of Kherson, south of Zaporozhye, and to conquer Donetsk and Luhansk. Later, Ukraine would lose Mariupol in one of the most brutal and bloody battles, but also cities such as Sieverodonetsk, Lisichansk, Soledar and, on May 20, Bakhmut in the longest and deadliest conflict. But Russia also had to retreat in the Kharkiv region and withdraw from the city of Kherson. Furthermore, it continues without achieving the full capture of Donetsk province, where important cities, such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, remain in Kiev’s hands.

A Ukrainian counter-offensive is currently underway, with no prospect of negotiations following Moscow’s decision last year to annex Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Luhansk.