We have signed an international convention that prohibits us from using such weapons and therefore we can say for ourselves that we do not do so because we have committed ourselves accordingly, Scholz said at a press conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

A comment on the US decision is not allowed in this context, Scholz added, calling the shipment “a sovereign decision of the United States.”

Albanese, for his part, pointed out that Australia is also a signatory to the international convention and therefore does not have such weapons.

We have no intention of changing this position either, and I fully agree with the Federal Chancellor on this, he added.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Sunday in an interview with the German public broadcaster ZDF that “the position of speaking out against cluster munitions is the right one, but in the current situation his country cannot block the United States.”

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, a legally binding international treaty, bans all use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and was adopted by 107 states at a diplomatic conference in Dublin, Ireland.

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