Réseau Bastille
Since 24 February 2022, the policy of arming Ukraine by the Western imperialist powers, first and foremost the United States, has been measured. They have dithered over the weapons to be delivered, the delivery times and even the Ukrainian army's ability to use them. What's more, they were unable to plan the production of the weapons that Ukraine demanded in order to supply it in sufficient quantities. These powers are far from being "Amazon", as the British defence minister put it, but rather a " charity office".
In reality, this policy of withholding supplies is designed to force Ukraine to negotiate and ultimately to relinquish its sovereignty over its entire territory. This policy can be summed up as follows: "Weapons to resist, not to liberate".
Cluster munitions were never on the list of weapons requested by Ukraine. This proposal was made unilaterally by Biden. They were not a choice by Ukraine, but were imposed by default. Aware of the nature of these weapons, the Ukrainian General Staff immediately established the rules for their use. Historically used as weapons of aggression (Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, etc.), cluster munitions will be used here by a country under attack on its own territory, whereas Russia, the aggressor country, has long been using them against Ukraine.
Given these considerations, there can be no question of denouncing Ukraine, which, with its back to the wall, can only accept these weapons of "last resort".
It is also noteworthy that the Ukrainian leftists, whom we actively support and with whom we have close relations, have not considered this issue to be of primary importance in their twofold struggle: against Russian imperialism and against the neo-liberal policies of their own government.