The Japanese authorities consider it necessary to achieve maximum ratification of the Cluster Munitions Agreement. Such a statement on Monday, July 24, was made by Deputy Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers Yoshihiko Isozaki.
“If we talk about the position of our country, we consider it important that as many countries as possible join this convention,” he stressed.
Isozaki added that Japan ratified the treaty back in 2009 and intends to promote it at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
The Deputy Secretary General refrained from direct comments in connection with the use of cluster munitions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) for shelling the Zaporozhye region. At the same time, he clarified that he was aware of the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense on this matter.
On the eve of the power structures of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) reported a strike by Western cluster munitions from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU). Information about the injured and dead is being specified.
Prior to that, on July 22, Ukrainian nationalists attacked a group of employees of the Izvestia and RIA Novosti. Cluster munitions were used during the shelling. Four journalists, including military commander and Izvestiya cameraman Roman Polshakov and Dmitry Shikov, were wounded. RIA Novosti military commander Zhuravlev died during the evacuation.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that this shelling was not accidental. According to her, the reason lies in the fact that correspondents collected materials about the use of cluster munitions by Kiev in the Zaporozhye region.
On July 13, the Pentagon confirmed the transfer of cluster munitions to Kyiv. Prior to that, on July 7, US President Joe Biden called the supply of these shells a temporary step aimed at supporting Ukraine until it is possible to increase the production of artillery shells.
The use of cluster munitions is prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force on August 1, 2010, it was signed by 123 countries, but only 110 have ratified it. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Greece, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland and Estonia have not signed the convention among European countries.
