Russia Seeks Explanation From U.S. and Turkey Over Reports of Possible Arms Transfer
Turkey requested permission from Washington to send Ukraine tens of thousands of cluster munitions that had sat in Ankara's stockpiles for decades.
Russia has requested that the United States and Turkey clarify reports suggesting a potential transfer of a significant cache of U.S. weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. According to Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, such a transfer would severely damage bilateral relations with both Washington and Ankara.
Last week, Turkey sought permission from the U.S. to send hundreds of thousands of artillery projectiles and cluster munitions, which had been stored in Turkey's stockpiles for several decades. These munitions were originally produced under a 1987 license from the United States and are not covered by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, sale, and export of certain explosive submunitions.
Human Rights Watch has cautioned that approximately 40% of these munitions, known as bomblets, fail to detonate upon release, effectively becoming anti-personnel landmines that can harm civilians long after hostilities cease. The United States has annually renewed a moratorium on exporting cluster munitions from 2009 to 2023, but President Joe Biden recently circumvented this rule to supply these weapons to Ukraine.
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