Lithuania Exits Cluster Bomb Convention
Published on 10 Oct 2025
Lithuania has quit an international convention banning cluster bombs, citing security concerns over neighbouring Russia.
It is the first country to leave the convention, which was adopted in 2008, and the first European Union country to leave a multilateral arms regulation agreement.
Russia and Ukraine are not members of the convention and have both used cluster bombs in their three-year-long war.
A cluster munition or a cluster bomb is a weapon containing multiple explosive submunitions that can disperse from 10 to several hundred bomblets over a target area.
They can be dropped from an aircraft or fired in missiles or artillery shells and contain more explosive power and metal fragmentation, enabling them to cause multiple casualties.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM):
Israel's indiscriminate use of the weapon in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties.
This propelled the international community in 2008 to attempt a legally binding international instrument to curb the use of cluster munitions.
The Convention was opened for signature in Oslo(Norway) on 3 December 2008 and entered into force on 1 August 2010.
CCM has 112 state parties and 12 other signatories.
However, India was not a party to this Convention.
It bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions, and places obligations on countries to clear affected areas, assist victims, and destroy stockpiles.
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