USA: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said that by providing Ukraine with widely outlawed cluster munitions, the US has 'debased' itself and that the weapons will not significantly affect the conflict.
The billionaire stated on Twitter on Saturday: "We have run out of normal ammunition to send Ukraine, so now we are sending them cluster bombs in desperation, debasing ourselves with no change in the outcome."
Musk commended the 98 House Republicans and 49 House Democrats who voted to prohibit the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, but their efforts ultimately had no impact. He said, "I want to thank you for trying to stop this debasement of America.
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As both Washington and Kiev are running low on conventional munitions, the US approved the delivery of cluster munitions to Kiev earlier this month. President Joe Biden described the action as a stopgap measure to allow military production to catch up with soaring demand.
The reason that cluster munitions are prohibited in more than 100 nations is because they frequently fail to detonate after they explode, posing a serious threat to civilians for many years after the fighting has ended.
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Many of Washington's longtime allies have expressed concern about the choice and stated they will not send the contentious weapons to Kiev, including the UK, Canada, and Germany.
The delivery of cluster munitions has been denounced by Russian officials. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, issued a warning that, despite the fact that the action won't affect how the war turns out, it effectively turns Washington into "an accomplice in mining [Ukraine's] territory," meaning that it "will share full responsibility for the deaths... of both Russian and Ukrainian children."
Sergey Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, issued a warning that if Washington gave Kiev cluster munitions, Moscow "would be forced to use equivalent weapons against the Ukrainian forces."
