Brazil halts shipment of cluster munitions to Kiev

Moscow, July 8 – Brazilian aide to President Celso Amorim pointed out the risks associated with the US plan to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine in an interview with Bloomberg.

As noted, the interview was conducted when the plan to transfer cluster munitions to Kiev was still being considered in Washington. Amorim expressed concern about the plan and stated that Brazil opposes the use of such munitions in the conflict.

The United States announced on Friday that it was in the process of transferring cluster munitions to Ukraine, which is banned under an international agreement ratified by 123 countries, with the exception of the United States and Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to the Russian military, have already used cluster munitions to bomb Donbass, in particular the large city of Donetsk. According to the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, this indicates that the task of the Ukrainian forces is to kill as many civilians as possible.

Russia has previously sent a memorandum to NATO countries over the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has indicated that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that NATO countries were “playing with fire” by supplying arms to Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, noted that the injection of weapons into Ukraine from the West does not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative impact. Lavrov stated that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, “including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training of personnel … on the territory of Great Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries.”