US is giving cluster munitions to Ukraine, Biden administration says
The Biden administration broke with some of its close allies and said on Friday it would supply cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite concerns that the weapons could endanger civilians.
Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House he would “leave it to the Pentagon to make a formal announcement later Friday afternoon,” but said the administration would continue to arm Ukraine as stockpiles of conventional artillery dwindle. dwindle . He defended the use of the weapons because Ukraine was running out of artillery shells, and Russia has been using them since the beginning of the war.
“Ukraine would not use this munitions in a foreign country,” Sullivan said. This is their country they are defending. These are their citizens they protect and they are motivated to use whatever weapon system they have in a way that minimizes the risk to those citizens.”
Mr Sullivan said providing the ammunition would be a “bridge” as production of conventional weapons will increase in the coming months. summer or heading into this fall when Ukraine is short of artillery, and because it is short of artillery, it is vulnerable to Russian counter-attacks that could subdue more Ukrainian civilians,” he said, explaining the thinking behind the decision of the government explained.
President Biden and his advisers had reservations about supplying the weapons, which propel small, deadly bombs, to the Ukrainian armed forces, especially because they are especially dangerous to children, who pick up duds and detonate them.
But Ukraine is burning through stockpiles of conventional artillery, and government officials ultimately decided they had little choice, fearing that Russia would gain the upper hand if the soldiers ran out.
Several United States allies who have moved to supply Kiev with tanks, planes and artillery have drawn a line on providing cluster munitions. Germany and France are among more than 100 countries that have signed a treaty banning weapons; the United States, Russia and Ukraine do not. Russia used cluster munitions for much of the war, and analysts say as many as 40 percent of those weapons resulted in duds, posing a greater threat to civilians. The Ukrainians have been using the weapons since the beginning of the war, often on their own territory.
On Friday, German and French officials did not criticize the United States’ decision to supply the weapons, but said they would not follow suit.
The decision to supply cluster munitions is expected to complicate Mr Biden’s trip to a NATO summit in Lithuania next week, but on Friday Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, evaded a question on whether he thought it was wise for the United States to supply the widespread weapons to Ukraine.
“It is up to individual allies to make decisions about the supply of weapons and military supplies to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “So this is for governments to decide – not for NATO as an alliance.”
Mr Stoltenberg added that “Russia uses cluster missions in their brutal offensive war to invade another country, while Ukraine uses it to defend itself.”
On Capitol Hill, at least one Democrat criticized the decision.
“I remain strongly in favor of helping Ukraine cope with Russia’s relentless offensive war,” said Rep. James P. McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and leading member of the House Rules Committee, said in a statement. “But cluster munitions will not help.”
As a senator, Mr. Biden opposed the use of cluster munitions.
“Cluster bombs have always been a problem for responsible military forces like those of the United States,” Biden said of the weapons in 2006. “The weapons are very useful militarily, but they also carry a real risk of civilian casualties if used where civilians are present or if too many submunitions fail to explode when they hit the ground.
“This is a legitimate issue to consider and perhaps legislate,” he added, “but it must be done in a careful manner, after hearings and with proper preparation.”
Lara Jacks reporting contributed.