Spain opposes US transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine

The United States signed off on the delivery of howitzer-launched cluster munitions to Ukraine on Friday of a kind which the US military had previously pledged to destroy. Russian officials condemned the move as a major escalation.

Spain does not support the decision of the Biden Administration to send cluster munitions to Kyiv, Defense Minister Margarita Robles has announced.

"Spain, based on the firm commitment it has to Ukraine, also has a firm commitment that certain weapons and bombs cannot be delivered under any circumstances," Robles said.

As a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Spain has a "clear and resounding" position on this type of weapon, and the US decision to send the arms to Ukraine was "not a NATO decision," she added.

The US announced Friday that it would be sending cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new $800 million military aid package, citing the need to improve Kiev's military capabilities against Russian forces. Cluster munitions are an extremely lethal weapon containing dozens or hundreds of explosive bomblets which saturate across wide areas, with some failing to detonate on impact and subsequently coming to pose a risk to non-combatants and the local environment.

The weapons' deployment in urban areas threatens to cause mass casualties among civilians. Kiev has assured Washington that it would not use cluster munitions in civilian areas, but has been known to systematically deploy its NATO-provided artillery, HIMARS rockets and cruise missiles against civilian infrastructure in the Donbass, Crimea and other parts of Russia.

Spain is one of several US allies to express opposition to the US decision on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine, with Germany, Britain, and Canada also doing so. The United Nations has also expressed opposition to the move, with dozens of human rights groups and anti-war movements condemning Washington over the decision.