Report: US Sends Cluster Munitions to Ukraine via Germany

Germany has publicly opposed the transfer of banned cluster munitions, but new evidence suggests it may be facilitating them. That stance runs counter to its longstanding support for the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the weapons.

Cluster munitions are launched from aircraft or fired in rockets, missiles, and artillery shells. They open in mid-air to disperse multiple submunitions over a wide area, and many do not explode as intended, posing a long-term hazard like landmines.

Repeated Russian cluster munition attacks have killed and wounded hundreds of Ukrainian civilians since 2022, while Ukrainian forces have also used cluster munitions, resulting in civilian casualties. Since July 2023, US President Joseph Biden has has approved five deliveries to Ukraine of US cluster munitions, fired from 155mm artillery projectiles and ballistic missiles.

Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the weapons. However, 112 countries, including Germany, have ratified the treaty because of the foreseeable harm to civilians. At least 35 countries that are parties to the treaty consider the transit and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions to be prohibited by the treaty.

When the U.S. transfers were first announced, more than two dozen world leaders voiced their concerns. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Germany, as a member of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, “is against sending cluster munitions to Ukraine.”

That principled position has been called into question after a documentary from the German media channel ARD’s “Panorama” programwhich aired on July 25. A spokesman for the U.S. Army for Europe and Africa confirmed in writing to ARD that American 155mm M864 and M483A1 cluster munition artillery projectiles are stored at the U.S. Army’s ammunition depot in Miesau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. From there, ARD reported, they were shipped to Ukraine as part of U.S. military assistance, traveling through Germany and Poland.

When asked to comment on the ARD report, Defense Department spokesperson Charlie Dietz told Responsible Statecraft that “it is the general U.S. policy not to discuss specific details of military logistics or the movement of munitions for security reasons.” He did not deny that U.S. cluster munitions held at the U.S. base in Germany have been transferred to Ukraine, saying “the movement of munitions and all other items by the U.S. military is done in accordance with U.S. obligations under applicable international agreements, U.S. law, and DoD regulations, including security standards.”

Germany’s Status of Forces Agreement with the U.S. governs how Germany receives U.S. troops on its soil. There is little transparency surrounding the agreement, but it seems to be permissive when it comes to cluster munitions. This is because the American stockpiles of cluster munitions are located on American military bases in Germany are not considered under the agreement to fall under German jurisdiction And check.

The German defense minister and other officials told ARD that they could not confirm the presence of U.S. cluster munitions at military bases in Germany and had no knowledge of whether U.S. cluster munitions had passed through German territory or airspace. But the U.S. military spokesman told ARD that the German armed forces receive “documentation of the contents of the shipments” of ammunition sent from the American base in Miesau.

This news is discouraging given the situation in Germany. exemplary leadership role in the treaty. Germany was one of the first 30 ratifiers, triggering the treaty’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It hosted a major international conference on the destruction of cluster munitions stockpiles in Berlin in 2009 and completed the destruction of its cluster munitions stockpile in 2015. Germany chaired the treaty in 2017.

In contrast, the United States did not participate, even as an observer, in the 2007–2008 Oslo process that created the convention. However, U.S. State Department cables released by Wikileaks show that Washington attempted to influence its allies, partners, and other states during the process to affect the outcome of the negotiations, particularly on the issue of “interoperability”—joint military operations between the U.S. and states party to the convention.

The United States has withdrawn its stockpiles of cluster munitions from its bases in Norway and the United Kingdom in 2010, but cables released by Wikileaks showed it could still be stockpiling cluster munitions in states such as Germany, Italy and Spain. The U.S. government has not responded to repeated to call to action from civil society organisations to provide details on the specific types, quantities and numbers of cluster munitions transferred to Ukraine, or on the transit points and expected end date for the transfers.

President Biden must immediately halt the transfer of cluster munitions, given the significant humanitarian and human rights risks to civilians in the short and long term. Washington must take steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay.

Meanwhile, Germany should tell the United States to immediately remove its cluster munitions stockpiles. It should be clear in opposing any transit of cluster munitions over its territory, airspace or waters.

All States Parties to the Convention must call for an end to the transit and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions. They must not intentionally or knowingly aid, induce or encourage any activity prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.