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Unnamed European state agrees to ship cluster munitions to Ukraine — report

Cluster munitions are charges, loaded with a large number of smaller explosive sub-munitions of various purpose

CAIRO, January 26. /TASS/. The government of a European country agreed to ship cluster munitions to Ukraine, Al Arabiya reported Thursday, citing an unnamed European official.

The source, who desired to stay totally anonymous, said that the government of his country has approved the shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine, and is now working to obtain an authorization from Germany, who was involved in their production.

"The Ukrainians are asking for them. This weapon is legal. Its collateral damage is not as big as before. It used to be very big in the 1940s and the 1950s, but is quite manageable now," the European official said in Washington. He added that Berlin will require some time to make a decision.

Cluster munitions are charges, loaded with a large number of smaller explosive sub-munitions of various purpose: anti-tank, anti-personnel, incendiary and so on. Many states use them as bombs, artillery shells and missile warheads. On August 1, 2010, 123 countries signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but only 110 ratified it. In particular, the signatories vowed to never produce, use and hand over such munitions to anyone. In Europe, the Convention was not signed by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Greece, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, and Estonia. Cyprus signed the document but did not ratify it.

In January, the Foreign Policy reported citing US and European officials that, starting in November 2022, Turkey started shipping Cold War-era cluster munitions, developed by the US, to Ukraine. Later, Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin called this claims a lie.

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