Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) deplored the Biden Administration’s short-sighted and dangerous decision to supply cluster munitions for the war in Ukraine. Cluster munitions are currently banned by more than 100 nations, although the United States, Russia, and Ukraine have not joined that ban - the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Contact Tim McHugh: media@fcnl.org, 202-903-2515
“Today’s decision is beyond disappointing and heartbreaking. Since the initial invasion in 2014, Russia and Ukraine have been actively fighting. More weapons, and certainly not more indiscriminate weapons, are not the answer. Diplomacy is,” said Bridget Moix, FCNL’s general secretary.
“If we are now OK with sending banned munitions into an active warzone, is anything off the table? Can we at some point stop the killing and start talking? That is the only way this war will end. So to that end, we urge President Joe Biden to reconsider today’s decision.”
Cluster munitions are shells that contain hundreds to thousands of smaller bombs that disperse in the air and scatter over areas the size of several football fields. These weapons were designed to destroy large unarmored military targets. However, their extreme threat to civilians outweighs any potential tactical benefit. The lack of precision targeting capabilities of cluster munitions increases the risk of their falling in civilian areas and makes it difficult to decontaminate.
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
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