(Reuters) The United States announced Friday that it will send Ukraine cluster bombs, banned by more than 100 countries, as part of an $800 million security assistance package, a move Ukraine said would have an “extraordinary psycho-emotional impact” on Russian occupation forces.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, sought to justify providing these weapons to Ukraine shortly before the Pentagon formally announced the aid.
The also so-called cluster munitions could spur a Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain territory seized by Russian forces since the invasion in February 2022.
“We recognize that cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm due to undetonated explosives,” Sullivan told reporters. “That’s why we’ve delayed the decision as long as we can.”
“But there is also a huge risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks go through Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subdue more Ukrainian civilians, because Ukraine doesn’t have enough artillery,” he said.
Asked why he was providing the cluster bombs now, Biden told reporters that it was because the defense effort against Russia had “run out of ammunition.”
Cluster munitions typically release a large number of small bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that do not explode can pose a danger for decades after the conflict ends. Ukraine has been requesting these weapons to fire at Russian positions with entrenched troops.
“Ukraine has provided written assurances that it will use them in a very careful manner” to minimize risk to civilians, Sullivan said, adding that the U.S. National Security Council is unanimously in agreement to send the weapons.
Human rights groups oppose Washington’s decision to provide cluster bombs. Human Rights Watch has accused Russian and Ukrainian forces of using these weapons, which have killed civilians.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is against the continued use of cluster munitions, a UN spokesman said.
Germany, an ally of the US, also opposes sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, according to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Germany is one of 111 states that are part of the Cluster Munitions Convention, a pact that does not include the U.S.
“Very Significant Contribution”
In the past, Ukraine has urged members of the U.S. Congress to pressure the administration of President Joe Biden to approve the shipment of cluster bombs.
“Undoubtedly, the transfer of additional volumes of projectiles to Ukraine is a very significant contribution to the acceleration of de-occupation procedures,” presidential political adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Friday.
“Especially if we are talking about cluster ammunition, which is undoubtedly capable of having an extraordinary psycho-emotional impact on the already demoralized Russian occupation groups,” he said.
Biden told Xi after meeting with Putin: watch out, your economy depends on Western investment
US President Joe Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping after his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin earlier this year to “be careful” as Beijing depends on Western investment, according to excerpts from a CNN interview.
“I said: this is not a threat. That is an observation,” Biden said.
“Since Russia entered Ukraine, 600 American corporations have left Russia. And you told me that your economy depends on investments from Europe and the United States. And be careful. Be careful.”