Varadkar: US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine 'wrong'

A cluster bomb detonated by bomb experts in the southern Lebanese village of Sultaniyeh. File Picture: THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Government does not agree with the US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.

His comments follow US president Joe Biden’s decision to supply the “indiscriminate and imprecise” weapons to Ukraine.

“I think it's the wrong decision. The United States are allies of ours and of course we support Ukraine in their battle to defend their country and defend their freedom in democracy. Both Russia and Ukraine are using cluster bombs. I think that's wrong," Mr Varadkar said.

The Taoiseach pointed out that cluster bombs can stay around long after they have first been fired and can cause injury to civilians many years later.

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The weapon disperses smaller bombs over a large area. However, not all detonate on landing, with up to 40% exploding at a later date, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"So I don't think it's the right decision and we will be saying that to our American colleagues," he said, speaking after attending the National Day of Commemoration at Collins Barracks in Cork.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney agreed that it was "not the right decision to add more cluster munitions to what is already a war that is that is impacting severely on civilians."

“Ireland has a very long history campaigning on cluster munitions and their use, the impact that they have on civilians," Mr Coveney said.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and Minister for Further & Higher Education, Simon Harris, TD, at the annual National day of Commemoration Ceremony that was held at Collins Barracks, Cork. Picture: David Creedon

Ireland has held a “strong and unwavering” commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) since its adoption in Dublin in 2008, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The CCM is an international treaty of more than 100 states which prohibits all use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions.

However, the US, Russia, Ukraine, and China are among the states that did not sign the treaty.

Mr Coveney said that while the US is a close friend of Ireland's that does not mean that we cannot disagree on certain issues.

On Friday, Mr Biden defended what he said was a “difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, a move his administration said was key to the fight and underpinned by Ukraine’s promise to use the bombs carefully.

The controversial decision was hailed on Twitter by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked Mr Biden for “a timely, broad, and much-needed defence aid package” that will “bring Ukraine closer to victory over the enemy, and democracy to victory over dictatorship”.

A timely, broad and much-needed defense aid package from the United States. We are grateful to the American people and President Joseph Biden @POTUS for decisive steps that bring Ukraine closer to victory over the enemy, and democracy to victory over dictatorship. The expansion…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 7, 2023

 

The move has faced international backlash from humanitarian groups, with Amnesty International’s researcher on military, security, and policing issues Patrick Wilcken saying the weapons cause “untold harm” to civilians, in some cases decades after conflicts have ended.

“The Biden administration’s plan to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is a retrograde step, which undermines the considerable advances made by the international community in its attempts to protect civilians from such dangers both during and after armed conflicts,” he said.