US Senator John McCain said the US is partially responsible for Ukraine’s indiscriminate use of cluster bombs in the country’s east, attributing that for the US failing to send Kiev other arms.
US Senator John McCain said the US is partially responsible for Ukraine’s indiscriminate use of cluster bombs in the country’s east, attributing that for the US failing to send Kiev other arms.
“I think that if we had provided them with the weapons they need, they wouldn’t have felt they had to use cluster bombs. So, it’s partially our fault,” McCain, who is also the US Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, told Russia’s Sputnik news agency on Friday.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has confirmed November reports that Kiev’s military used cluster bombs in residential areas in southeastern Ukraine, including Donetsk and Lugansk. The NGO also said that cluster ammunition was deployed in Donetsk on October 2, which led to the death of an employee from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The usage of cluster munitions has been declared illegal and a violation of international humanitarian law by the UN. Up to 114 countries have signed a UN treaty banning such weapons, which are made of hundreds of submunitions that can travel in any direction during blasts, putting everyone in their vicinity at high risk.
HRW blamed Kiev for not investigating its army’s indiscriminate use of prohibited cluster bombs against civilians in the country’s east.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk responded by claiming "there is no evidence of that," and suggested that the group should focus on Crimea, which split from Ukraine and reunited with Russia in March 2014.
McCain also stressed that US military advisers would have to travel to Ukraine if the US decides to supply the country with ammunitions.
"We require some (military advisers)," McCain said. "But it’s not a large number that we need and they are not going to engage in combat. We will not put American troops in combat roles, but we will help them (Ukrainians) defend themselves."
McCain is one of the political figures speaking out in support of providing lethal aid to Ukraine, in addition to supplies and training that are already being provided, as some of the US military advisers have already been on the ground in Ukraine since last year.
He argued that Ukraine requires Javelin anti-tank missile systems, as well as intelligence support.
The civil war in Ukraine has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 civilians and has had a tremendous impact on the country’s economy.
The city of Debaltsevo has recently become the scene of heavy fighting between the Ukrainian troops and the rebels. On Thursday, Donetsk militia proposed a ceasefire starting from 9am local time (0600 GMT) on February 6, in order to provide a corridor so that civilians in Debaltsevo can leave the conflict area. Kiev has reportedly agreed to hold fire.
