US President Defends Decision to Send Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden has defended his “very difficult decision” to give Ukraine cluster bombs, which have a record of killing civilians.

The president said it had taken him “a while to be convinced to do it”, but he had acted because “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition”.

Ukraine’s president has hailed the “timely” move.

But the UK’s PM suggested the country “discourages” the use of cluster bombs, while Spain criticized the decision.

When asked about his position on the US decision, Rishi Sunak highlighted the UK was one of 123 countries that had signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use.

Spain’s Defence Minister Margarita Robles told reporters her country had a “firm commitment” that certain weapons and bombs could not be sent to Ukraine.

But Germany, which is a signatory of the treaty, said that while it would not provide such weapons to Ukraine it understood the American position.

The US, Ukraine, and Russia have not signed up for the convention, and both Moscow and Kyiv have used cluster bombs during the war.