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.

MG