Kathrine Frich
At the heart of the dispute is a massive collection of military supplies currently sitting in Turkish warehouses.
Behind closed doors, old military alliances often hold secrets that can suddenly ignite fresh conflict.
Weapons stored away for decades during quiet times can quickly become the center of a high-stakes diplomatic standoff.
That is exactly what is happening today as new requests for heavy arms threaten to disrupt fragile international relations.
Demanding quick answers
Moscow is demanding immediate answers from both Washington and Ankara over recent reports of a major weapons agreement.
Russian officials reacted sharply after learning that Turkey might hand over a massive collection of American-designed arms to Ukraine.
According to Moscow Times, the Kremlin warned that shipping a “substantial arsenal” across the border would carry steep diplomatic consequences. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned in an official statement that any such move would cause “serious harm … to our bilateral relations with Washington and Ankara.”
Decades in storage
At the heart of the dispute is a massive collection of military supplies currently sitting in Turkish warehouses.
Ankara recently asked the United States for permission to transfer tens of thousands of artillery shells and cluster rockets directly to Kyiv.
These weapons were originally manufactured under a 1987 American license and have remained untouched in storage for decades.
Because of that original licensing arrangement, Turkey must secure explicit clearance from Washington before sending the ammunition anywhere else.
Hidden explosive risks
The potential shipment involves highly controversial cluster munitions, which shower smaller bomblets across broad battlefield areas.
Neither the United States nor Turkey signed the 2008 international agreement prohibiting the sale and deployment of these weapons.
Human Rights Watch has issued strong warnings about the dangerous devices, noting that roughly 40 percent of the bomblets fail to detonate right away. Instead, those unexploded charges become “de facto anti-personnel landmines” that threaten innocent civilians long after combat stops.
Washington maintained a strict moratorium on exporting cluster bombs for years, but President Joe Biden bypassed those rules in 2023 to supply Ukraine. Now, Russian leaders are watching closely to see whether Washington will give Ankara the green light to open its stockpiles.
Sources: Moscow Times, Reuters
