The Ministry of Defense, which authored the resolution, says that once Lithuania withdraws from the Convention, the country would be able to acquire, stockpile, and, if necessary, use cluster munitions.

Cluster munitions are an explosive weapon that ejects smaller bomblets contained within. They can be either air-dropped or ground-launched.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in Dublin in December 2008 and prohibits the use, production, and acquisition of cluster munitions. It sets out specific obligations to address the humanitarian consequences of these weapons and the harm they cause to civilian populations.

The Convention entered into force on August 1, 2010, and Lithuania signed the conventions in 2011. More than 100 countries around the world have banned cluster munitions, including, most European countries, as well as NATO member Canada.

The idea of withdrawing from the Convention first surfaced last year, when in mid-July 2023 the U.S. first supplied cluster munitions to Ukraine. Neither the U.S., Ukraine, nor Russia are party to the Convention.

While highly controversial, the Lithuanian defense ministry maintains that cluster munitions are a highly effective means of defense and that Lithuania should be allowed to use them.

In order for Lithuania to withdraw from the Convention, the resolution has to be presented as a bill to Lithuania’s unicameral parliament. If passed, it would then have to be approved by President Gitanas Nausėda, who recently told the Baltic News Agency that he supports Lithuania’s withdrawal from the convention.

The ministry argues that in case of an attack carried out against Lithuania by Russia and its satellite Belarus, the aggressor states would not hesitate to use cluster ammunitions, giving them a military edge.

“Even if our allies wanted to use this tool on our territory, they would not be able to do so, not even to transport it through Lithuania,” Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas told the cabinet on Wednesday.