- By Madeline Halpert
- BBC News, New York
Jul 7, 2023 at 1:29 PM BST
Updated 12 minutes ago
video caption,
Watch: White House discusses sending cluster munitions to Ukraine
The US will send a cluster munitions package to Ukraine to help in its counter-offensive against Russia.
The White House said it was deferring the decision for as long as possible because of the potential for civilian harm from such unexploded ordnance.
Ukraine has been asking for the guns for months because of the ammunition shortage.
Cluster munitions – banned in more than 100 countries – are a class of weapons that include several explosive bomblets called submunitions.
US President Joe Biden said in a cable television interview that it was “a very difficult decision on my part” to send the bombs.
“I’ve discussed this with our allies,” he told CNN, “I’ve discussed this with our friends upstairs.” [Capitol] Hill.”
He said he decided to ship the ammunition because “Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”
Mr Biden could face questions from allies on the issue at a NATO summit in Lithuania next week.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at Friday’s daily White House news briefing, “We recognize that cluster munitions pose a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance.”
“That’s why we delayed the decision as long as possible.”
He added: “Ukraine would not use this ammunition in a foreign country. This is their country they are defending.”
Mr Sullivan said Ukraine was running out of artillery and needed “a supply bridge” while the US ramped up domestic production.
“We will not leave Ukraine defenseless at any point in this conflict period,” he said.
video caption,
Watch: US military video shows cluster munitions exploding
The munition is controversial because of its miss or dud rate, meaning unexploded bomblets can remain on the ground for years and later detonate.
Mr Sullivan told reporters that the cluster munitions rate America will be sending to Ukraine has a dud rate of less than 2.5%, describing it as being well below Russia’s cluster munitions rate, which US officials say is between 30 and 40 % lie.
In a separate press briefing, the Pentagon gave no details on how many cluster munitions the US will send to Ukraine, but spokesman Colin Kahl said there are “hundreds of thousands available.”
US law prohibits the transfer of cluster munitions with a bomblet failure rate of more than 1% – that is, more than 1% of the bomblets in the weapon fail to detonate – but President Biden can circumvent this rule.
A United Nations investigation found that Ukraine has likely already used cluster bombs, although the country has denied it.
At the start of the war, the White House was questioned about allegations that Russia was using cluster bombs, and then-press secretary Jen Psaki said it would be a “war crime” if it were true.
According to US media reports, officials plan to send artillery shells to Ukraine, each containing 88 individual bomblets. They would be fired from howitzer artillery guns already in use by the Ukrainian army.
The Biden government’s latest arms package for Ukraine is valued at $800 million (£626 million). It includes Bradley and Stryker combat vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-mine equipment.
Human rights groups have urged Russia and Ukraine not to use cluster munitions and the US not to supply them.
In a statement on Friday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights again urged countries not to use cluster bombs, saying they are dangerous.
“Cluster munitions scatter small bombs over a large area, many of which do not detonate immediately,” said office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado. “They can kill and maim years later. Therefore, the deployment should be stopped immediately.”
Some U.S. lawmakers have also asked the Biden administration not to ship the weapons on the grounds that their humanitarian costs outweigh their battlefield benefits.
Defense Department official Laura Cooper told Congress last month that military analysts had found cluster bombs “would be useful, particularly against entrenched Russian positions.”
More than 120 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions and have committed not to use, manufacture, transfer or stockpile such devices.
The USA, Ukraine and Russia are not parties to the agreement.