The Biden administration, breaking with several of its closest allies, said on Friday that it would provide 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 that the administration would continue arming Ukraine as stockpiles of conventional artillery dwindle. He defended the use of the weapons by saying that Russia had been using them since the beginning of the war and Ukraine was running out of artillery rounds.
“Ukraine would not be using these munitions in some foreign land,” Sullivan said. “This is their country they’re defending. These are their citizens they’re protecting and they are motivated to use any weapon system they have in a way that minimizes risks to those citizens.”
Sullivan said that providing the munitions would be a “bridge” while production of conventional weapons ramps up in the coming months. Explaining the administration’s thinking behind the decision, he added that “this is the moment to begin the construction of that bridge so that there isn’t any period over the summer or heading into this fall when Ukraine is short on artillery, and being short on artillery, it is vulnerable to Russian counterattacks that could subjugate more Ukrainian civilians.”
President Joe Biden and his advisers had reservations about supplying the weapons, which disperse tiny, deadly bomblets, to Ukrainian forces, particularly because they are especially dangerous to children, who pick up duds only to have them explode.
But Ukraine is burning through stockpiles of conventional artillery, and administration officials ultimately decided they had little choice amid fears that Russia would gain the upper hand if soldiers ran out.
Several allies of the United States that have moved to provide Ukraine with tanks, planes and artillery have drawn a line at providing cluster munitions. Germany and France are among more than 100 nations that have signed a treaty prohibiting the weapons; the United States, Russia and Ukraine have not. Analysts say that as many as 40% of Russia’s cluster munitions have resulted in duds, which pose a greater hazard to civilians. The Ukrainians have also been using the weapons since early in the war, often in their own territory.
On Friday, German and French officials did not criticize the decision for the United States to provide the weapons, but said that they would not follow suit.
The decision to provide cluster munitions is expected to complicate Biden’s trip next week to a NATO summit in Lithuania, but on Friday, Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, dodged a question on whether he believed it was wise for the United States to provide the widely banned weapons to Ukraine.
“It is for individual allies to make decisions on the delivery of weapons and military supplies to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “So this will be for governments to decide — not for NATO as an alliance.”
Stoltenberg added that “Russia uses cluster missions in their brutal war of aggression, to invade another country, while Ukraine is using it to defend itself.”
On Capitol Hill, at least one Democrat criticized the decision.
“I continue to strongly support helping Ukraine stand up to Russia’s brutal war of aggression,” Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Rules Committee, said in a statement. “But cluster munitions won’t help.”
As a senator, Biden was against the use of cluster munitions, without the input of Congress.
“Cluster bombs have always posed problems 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 causing civilian casualties if they are 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, to legislate,” he added, “But it should be done in a careful manner, after holding hearings and with proper preparation.”
Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House that the administration would continue arming Ukraine as stockpiles of conventional artillery dwindle. He defended the use of the weapons by saying that Russia had been using them since the beginning of the war and Ukraine was running out of artillery rounds.
“Ukraine would not be using these munitions in some foreign land,” Sullivan said. “This is their country they’re defending. These are their citizens they’re protecting and they are motivated to use any weapon system they have in a way that minimizes risks to those citizens.”
Sullivan said that providing the munitions would be a “bridge” while production of conventional weapons ramps up in the coming months. Explaining the administration’s thinking behind the decision, he added that “this is the moment to begin the construction of that bridge so that there isn’t any period over the summer or heading into this fall when Ukraine is short on artillery, and being short on artillery, it is vulnerable to Russian counterattacks that could subjugate more Ukrainian civilians.”
President Joe Biden and his advisers had reservations about supplying the weapons, which disperse tiny, deadly bomblets, to Ukrainian forces, particularly because they are especially dangerous to children, who pick up duds only to have them explode.
But Ukraine is burning through stockpiles of conventional artillery, and administration officials ultimately decided they had little choice amid fears that Russia would gain the upper hand if soldiers ran out.
Several allies of the United States that have moved to provide Ukraine with tanks, planes and artillery have drawn a line at providing cluster munitions. Germany and France are among more than 100 nations that have signed a treaty prohibiting the weapons; the United States, Russia and Ukraine have not. Analysts say that as many as 40% of Russia’s cluster munitions have resulted in duds, which pose a greater hazard to civilians. The Ukrainians have also been using the weapons since early in the war, often in their own territory.
On Friday, German and French officials did not criticize the decision for the United States to provide the weapons, but said that they would not follow suit.
The decision to provide cluster munitions is expected to complicate Biden’s trip next week to a NATO summit in Lithuania, but on Friday, Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, dodged a question on whether he believed it was wise for the United States to provide the widely banned weapons to Ukraine.
“It is for individual allies to make decisions on the delivery of weapons and military supplies to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “So this will be for governments to decide — not for NATO as an alliance.”
Stoltenberg added that “Russia uses cluster missions in their brutal war of aggression, to invade another country, while Ukraine is using it to defend itself.”
On Capitol Hill, at least one Democrat criticized the decision.
“I continue to strongly support helping Ukraine stand up to Russia’s brutal war of aggression,” Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Rules Committee, said in a statement. “But cluster munitions won’t help.”
As a senator, Biden was against the use of cluster munitions, without the input of Congress.
“Cluster bombs have always posed problems 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 causing civilian casualties if they are 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, to legislate,” he added, “But it should be done in a careful manner, after holding hearings and with proper preparation.”