Washington's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine sparks criticism

(Patria) - The United States announced on Friday that it will deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time.

This move has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups due to the danger of unexploded ordnance, but Washington has said it received assurances from Kyiv that it will minimize the risk to civilians, including not using the munitions in populated areas.

President Joe Biden told CNN that the decision to provide these munitions was "very difficult" but that Ukrainian forces were "running out of ammunition," AFP reported.

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

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for the "much-needed" aid, tweeting that "the expansion of our defense capabilities will provide new tools for de-occupying our land and bringing closer peace".

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan explained the decision, saying there is an "enormous danger of civilian casualties if Russian troops and tanks break through Ukrainian positions and seize more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery." Kyiv has "given written assurances that they will use them in a very careful way," he said, noting that the Ukrainian government "has every incentive to minimize the risk to civilians, because they are their citizens".

Ukraine has promised not to use the munitions in areas populated by civilians and to record where they are used to assist in demining after the war, US Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl added.

But human rights groups have strongly opposed Washington's decision.

Human Rights Watch said that "the transfer of these weapons would inevitably cause long-term civilian suffering and undermine international condemnation against their use."

Amnesty International said that the Biden administration "must understand that any decision that enables the wider use of cluster bombs in this war is likely to lead to one predictable outcome: further civilian deaths."

"Cluster munitions are indiscriminate weapons that pose a serious threat to civilian lives, even long after a conflict ends. Their transfer and use by any country under any circumstances is incompatible with international law," it added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also opposed the move, with a spokesperson saying he "does not want the use of cluster munitions on the battlefield to continue."

Washington has so far provided more than $42 billion in military aid to Kyiv since Russia's invasion in February 2022.