- Joe Biden has agreed to send Ukraine deadly cluster munitions.
- He defended his decision and said Ukraine needed them because they were "running out of ammunition."
President Joe Biden defended his decision to send Ukraine controversial and deadly cluster munitions, explaining it was because Kyiv was "running out of ammunition" after 500 days of war.
"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 told CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Friday.
"The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition," he added.
The US finally agreed to send the weapons as part of a new $800 million security assistance package on Friday, following months of requests from Kyiv.
The cluster munitions will be compatible with US-provided 155mm howitzers, which have been a key piece of artillery for Ukrainian forces, CNN reported.
Cluster bombs are particularly dangerous because they break apart into multiple little bombs when fired, some of which do not always explode upon impact. The unexploded ordinance can put civilians at risk for years to come, like landmines.
Experts say cluster bombs will be useful for Ukraine's forces against well-dug-in Russian trenches amid a grueling counteroffensive.
However, the lethal weapons are highly controversial and are banned under an international treaty signed by 123 countries – but not the US, Russia, and Ukraine.
Human Rights Watch said last year that Russia was actively using cluster bombs in Ukraine and had killed and maimed hundreds of civilians with them.
Biden told Zakaria that the weapons were being sent to Ukraine during a "transition period" until the US is able to produce more 155mm artillery.
"This is a war relating to munitions. And they're running out of that ammunition, and we're low on it," Biden said.
"And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians."
Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive to take back territory occupied by Russia in early June, but gains have so far been slow.
Biden said it took him a while "to be convinced" to send cluster bombs, but he ultimately decided Ukraine "needed them."
Former chief of general staff for the British Army Lord Dannatt said that Biden's move risks "fracturing" NATO harmony, considering so many NATO countries have banned them.
Responding to Biden's decision, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak noted on Saturday that the UK was a signatory of the international treaty banning and discouraging their use but said his government would continue to support Ukraine in other ways.
Ukraine told to investigate its use of banned 'butterfly' antipersonnel mines
Last week, Human Rights Watch told Ukraine to investigate the use of banned land mines by the Ukrainian military after new evidence that they had caused civilian casualties was discovered.
The group called for Ukraine to investigate the use of Russian-made PFM-1 antipersonnel mines around the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium between April and September 2022. It said it had evidence of 11 civilian casualties from the mines, including one fatality.
The miniature PFM-1, also known as "butterfly" or "petal" mines, are fired from rockets and scatter indiscriminately on a wide area.