The United States announced on Friday that it will send Ukraine cluster munitions as part of an $800 million security package. President Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Friday that it was a “difficult decision” to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions for the first time, but that he was ultimately convinced to send the controversial weapons because Kyiv needs ammunition in its counteroffensive against Russia.
“It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies, I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill,” Biden said, adding, “The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.” (CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria)
President Biden’s national security adviser Jack Sullivan sought to make the case for providing these arms to Ukraine shortly before the Pentagon formally announced the aid.
Jack Sullivan had this to say during a press briefing
“Russia has been using cluster munition since the start of this war to attack Ukraine Russia has been using cluster Munitions with high dud or failure rates of between 30 and 40 percent”
“the dud rate of the cluster munitions US would be providing are far below than what Russia is using, with a dud rate of 2.5%”
A 2009 U.S. law bans exports of American cluster munitions with bomblet failure rates higher than 1%, which covers virtually all of the U.S. military stockpile. Biden waived prohibitions around the munitions, just as his predecessor Donald Trump did in 2021 to allow the export of cluster munitions technology to South Korea.
Will Ukraine’s NATO membership be expedited?
During Biden’s interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Ukraine’s NATO membership was brought up. Biden said that while Ukraine’s membership in NATO was premature, US and NATO would continue President Volodymyr Zelensky and his forces aid needed to help end this war. Zelensky does keep pushing for their NATO membership as they keep requesting aid, Biden comments on this by saying.
“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made, no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”
