On 7 July, US National security advisor Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden and his advisers had made a “unanimous decision” to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, The Guardian reported.
He added Kyiv had provided assurances on how it would use the munitions, and that Russia has been using them extensively since the beginning of the war.
Banned by more than 120 countries but not Ukraine, Russia, and the US, the cluster munitions are designed to detonate and scatter numerous smaller munitions or bomblets across wide areas, resulting in significantly broader devastation than individual rounds.
Update:
The approved military aid package worth $800 million includes cluster munitions, Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, air defense missiles, and an array of other ammunition, Politico and The Guardian reported.
According to CNN, Sullivan pointed to Russia's use of cluster munitions since it began its invasion.
"Russia has been using cluster munitions with high dud or failure rates of between 30% and 40%. In this environment," he said, noting US cluster munitions "would provide have dud rates far below what Russia is providing — not higher than 2.5%"
Read also:
- US plans to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, officials say – Reuters
- US leaning toward sending Ukraine cluster munitions, may announce supplies next month – NBC sources
