The transfer of these munitions requires the consent of Germany, where they were produced.
Estonia decided to hand over to Ukraine cluster ammunition, which our country asked for. However, for this, Germany must allow their re-export. Tallinn turned to Berlin with a corresponding request.
“Estonia has decided to provide Ukraine with artillery ammunition of 155 mm caliber. I do not consider it necessary to talk about the details of the agreements between the armed forces of Estonia and Ukraine, in particular, about the number and nomenclature of ammunition. If we provide Ukraine with cluster ammunition, I do not see any problems here, because already now both warring parties are using such ammunition on the territory of Ukraine,” he said ERR Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur.
It is noted that the Estonian Defense Forces have German-made cluster ammunition at their disposal since the 1990s. Germany itself refused to produce and use such shells.
Cluster munitions are considered particularly dangerous for the civilian population. The elements of these shells, which did not explode, turn, in fact, into a mine. The international convention prohibiting the use and transfer of cluster munitions has been in force for almost 15 years. However, Ukraine, Estonia, and the Russian Federation did not join this convention. In addition, this agreement was not signed by, in particular, the United States, China and Israel.
War in Ukraine: help from Estonia
On January 23, it became known that Estonia had decided to give Ukraine all its 155-mm howitzers. In this way, the country wants to create a precedent so that other countries will not have any excuses why they cannot provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons to win the war with the Russian Federation.
On Thursday, January 19, the government of Estonia decided to give Ukraine military aid in the amount of 113 million euros. This aid package would be the largest given by a country during a full-scale war.
In December 2022, the country confirmed a new package of military aid for the Armed Forces with supplies of equipment requested by Kyiv. The package mainly deals with individual equipment.