"They will record the places that they use them and they will prioritize demining efforts," Austin told CNN. "And we will help them do that, in those places where they gave us the conditions."
Asked how long the US would need to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, the secretary declined to "speculate." Austin stressed he wants to make sure "Ukraine can remain successful in their fight."
Defending the decision to send the controversial munitions to Kiev, Austin said the Ukrainians have committed to using them only in the "appropriate places," and not in populated areas.
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The West acts exclusively in its own self-interest, and nothing will ever help it realize the harm behind cluster munitions supplies for Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Thursday.
ReplyDelete"I don’t think anything will ever help the West see how criminal or counterproductive or even illegitimate what they have been doing sometimes is. The West will tackle specific issues depending on what suits them politically at any given moment. These are the rules which it wants the world order to be based on and which vary from time to time," Lavrov said. He was asked to comment on whether the South Asian countries which were victimized by cluster munitions could help the West see the criminality of its actions.
Russia’s top diplomat recalled the serious implications from the use of these weapons during the anticolonial wars in Laos and Cambodia. "Demining is ongoing. We are offering active assistance to Laos, and we regularly train large numbers of demining experts for Laos, with our technology being actively used [there]," he said.
Lavrov said that he had discussed the US’ plans to send cluster munitions to Ukraine with his Laotian counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith and that the Laotian Foreign Ministry had issued a corresponding statement cautioning Washington against such a risky step.