US government: Cluster munitions are also a stopgap for Ukraine
According to the US government, the provision of the controversial cluster munitions is intended to fill a “gap” for Ukraine. US President Joe Biden was determined not to leave Ukraine “defenseless,” Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.
Biden had previously acknowledged that the United States had little other ammunition in its inventory and described cluster munitions as a kind of temporary solution. When asked about this, Sullivan said that after Biden’s government took office, it was determined that stocks of standard NATO ammunition in the United States were “relatively low”.
“We realized that it would take years, not days or weeks or months, to be able to mass produce this munition,” Sullivan continued. Biden instructed the Pentagon to increase production capacity. “We need a bridge between today and the day we get there,” Sullivan said, referring to Ukraine’s needs. At this point, cluster munitions close a “gap”. This has already been delivered and arrived in the Ukraine. However, he has no information as to whether Ukraine has already used them.
The US government announced just over a week ago that it would deliver the much-criticized cluster munitions to Ukraine. Cluster munitions are rockets and bombs that burst in mid-air over the target, scattering many small explosive devices. It is controversial above all because a significant part of it does not detonate, but remains on site as duds and thus endangers the population.