The US President has justified sending the controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine amid increasing pressure to counter Russian military advancements. Joe Biden said the decision was a very difficult one as the cluster bombs have the potential to cause widespread civilian harm, but the US has made sure the weapons will only be used in defense, White House statement said.
Allies Not Happy
Allies, including the UK and Spain, have encouraged retrain as the delivery could escalate the war and more people would die. Spain’s Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the cluster bombs cannot be used in wars according to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits using cluster bombs. The UK’s PM Rishi Sunak also discouraged sending cluster bombs to Ukraine as it goes against the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Cluster Bombs
The controversial cluster bombs have the ability to cause unintended harm to civilian population as the munitions are filled with further smaller bombs that detonate over an area. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US cluster bombs were much more safer than the ones Russia have been using in Ukraine.
