US declares intent to send controversial banned cluster bombs to Ukraine

Despite a global ban on the use of cluster bombs, the United States has adamantly decided to supply the controversial weapons of mass destruction to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government has called on US President Joe Biden's administration to approve sending Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM).

The White House said on Friday the US will send Ukraine a cluster munitions package to help in its counteroffensive against Russia.

Biden said that the decision to provide the munitions was "very difficult," but that Ukrainian forces were "running out of ammunition."

"They either have the weapons to stop the Russians now -- keep them from stopping the Ukrainian offensive through these areas -- or they don't. And I think they needed them," he said.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the new military aid package announced on Friday included "dual-purpose improved conventional munitions," referring to cluster munitions.

Cluster bombs are banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), an international treaty that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action.

The weapons can contain dozens of smaller bomblets, dispersing over vast areas, often killing and maiming civilians. The CCMs are banned because unexploded bomblets can pose a risk to civilians for years after the fighting is over.

Cluster munitions generally eject submunitions that can cover five times as much area as conventional bombs.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which took effect in 2010, bans all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs. More than 100 countries have signed the treaty, but the US, Russia and Ukraine have not.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for the "much-needed" assistance.

Zelensky tweeted that "the expansion of Ukraine's defense capabilities will provide new tools for the de-occupation of our land and bringing peace closer."

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sought to justify the decision, claiming there was "a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians."

Kiev "has provided written assurances that it is going to use these in a very careful way," he said.

Pentagon: US may provide advanced variants of cluster bombs to Ukraine

The Pentagon reveals the US military may provide Ukraine with advanced variants of cluster munitions.

On Thursday, the Pentagon said the US may provide advanced variants of cluster bombs to Ukraine to help Kiev in its war against Russian forces.

“The ones that we are considering providing would not include older variants with dud rates that are higher than 2.35 percent,” he claimed, adding, the US military “would be carefully selecting rounds with lower dud rates” to replace the older weapons.

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