Russia’s envoy to Washington has blasted US justification for delivering globally-banned cluster bombs to Ukraine by predicting more civilian casualties in the raging conflict by the Russian side, slamming the twisted analogy to the US confessing to “war crimes.”
“We have taken note of… [NSC spokesman] John Kirby’s statements about the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine. The official de facto confessed to the United States committing war crimes during the Ukraine conflict,” said Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov in a statement on Sunday.
Antonov further emphasized that the US couldn’t care less about causing even more death and destruction far away from its borders after the White House National Security Council spokesman acknowledged that some civilians “will likely be hurt” by the US-supplied cluster bombs.
He was referring to Kirby’s remarks during an ABC News interview earlier on Sunday, when he said he believes “we can all agree that more civilians have been and will continue to be killed by Russian forces… then will likely be hurt by the use of these cluster munitions.”
Antonov further lashed out at Kirby’s remarks, insisting that such twisted logic boils down to, “it won’t get any worse.”
“He overtly stated that civilians would fall victim to US cluster-type weapons. According to the perverted view of the White House representative, this does less harm than the actions of Russia,” he then added in a statement posted on his Telegram social media page.
The White House announced its decision to supply Ukraine with the banned munitions on Friday, triggering concerns and objections voiced even by close US allies – such as Britain, Canada, Spain, Germany and Austria – as well as the UN and other international organizations and human rights groups, citing the weapon’s proven track record of harming innocent civilians even after a war is over.
This is while a senior US Defense Department official had earlier echoed Kirby’s Sunday remarks, insisting on Friday that Washington’s fears of Russian battlefield success outweigh concerns about potential civilian casualties resulting from the deliveries of US cluster bombs to Ukraine.
“The worst thing for civilians in Ukraine is for Russia to win the war. And so it’s important that they don’t,” said US Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl while defending the White House’s decision to send the mass-destructive weapons to Kiev in a press briefing on Friday.
He added that Kiev had promised not to use cluster munitions in civilian-populated urban areas and to keep records of where the weapons are deployed to make future de-mining efforts easier. The official also portrayed the deliveries as a stop-gap measure until Kiev’s Western backers can ramp up production of conventional shells.
In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, US President Joe Biden described the decision to supply the controversial shells to Ukraine as “difficult.” He said that it was in part motivated by the fact that both Kiev and Washington recognize a deficit in ordinary ammunition, adding that Ukraine “needed” cluster munitions to prevent Russia from stopping its ongoing counteroffensive.
Moscow also reacted angrily to Washington’s decision to supply the mass-destructive weapon to Ukraine on Saturday, describing the move as “an act of desperation” amid Kiev’s failure to make much progress in its hyped-up counteroffensive against Russian forces.
“It is an act of desperation and shows weakness against the backdrop of the failure of the much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a Saturday statement.
The statement echoed earlier dismissive remarks by Antonov, censuring the US move as a sign of “their impotence,” leading them to “commit new madness.”
“Cluster munitions are a gesture of desperation,” he also emphasized on Friday as quoted in a report by Sputnik News. “Such a measure speaks of the recognition by the United States and its satellites of their impotence.”
However, he added: “Here they do not want to admit their own failures and the failure of the attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to carry out an offensive against the Russian regions. Therefore, they commit new madness.”
