Fissures In NATO Evident As European Allies Disagree With US Sending Cluster Munitions To Ukraine

According to reports from the ongoing North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the alliance appears to be divided on certain crucial issues.

One such issue that has caused a rift among NATO members is the United States sending cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Cluster munitions are small bomblets, or sub-munitions, that are scattered over a large area, from either an air-launched munition, or from howitzers.

These bomblets are designed to explode upon impact or after a set time, to target and neutralise enemy personnel, vehicles, or structures. These sub-munitions are, however, notorious for their dud rate.

Some of the sub-munitions do not explode after deployment. These unexploded sub-munitions pose a threat, as they can maim or kill civilians, long after a conflict has ended.

Cluster munitions are also banned by an international treaty — Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) — prohibiting use, import and exports of these bombs.

Most of the European countries are signatories to the CCM, although the US, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and countries from the Middle East have not signed the treaty.

It is due to devastating nature of cluster munitions and the prohibition of their use under CCM, that European nations are against sending these munitions to Ukraine.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg referring to the US sending cluster munitions to Ukraine said, "On the specific issue of exactly what kind of ammunition, (to send to Ukraine), that's a national decision of each and every ally."

The US President Joe Biden, on the other hand, when asked about sending cluster munitions said that the Ukrainians have "run out of ammunition and that the US were low (of large-calibre ammunition like 155 mm artillery shells) on it."

The signatories of the CCM treaty are obliged to discourage the use of cluster munition, including imposing sanctions on the user of these weapons.

That could mean, according to a report by Canadian broadcaster CBC, that European countries may have to impose sanctions on Ukraine for the use of cluster munitions.

"We believe in our international obligations when it comes to cluster munitions and mines and we abide by them, so of course, we do not agree with the American position," the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said.

Meanwhile, the NATO countries have yet again denied the Ukrainian bid to join NATO, saying that the Ukraine can join NATO "when allies agree and conditions are met".

On the other hand, in a major victory for Sweden, Turkey has given consent to the former's application, paving the way for Sweden to join NATO.

NATO leaders have also agreed on a new budget formula, which will see the minimum spending on defence by the NATO countries, increase to atleast 2 per cent of the respective countries' gross domestic product.

(Also Read: What Is 'Cluster Munition' The US Is Sending To Ukraine As It Struggles Against The Dug-In Russian Army)