US to send Ukraine cluster munitions, NATO makes membership pledge
(Reuters) -The United States announced on Friday that it would supply Ukraine with widely banned cluster munitions for its counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces, and NATO's leader said the military alliance would unite at a summit next week on how to bring Ukraine closer to joining.
Rights groups and the United Nations secretary-general questioned Washington's decision on the munitions, part of an $800 million security package that brings total U.S. military aid to more than $40 billion since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who describes the conflict as a «special military operation» to protect Russian security, has said the U.S. and its allies were fighting an expanding proxy war.
The cluster munitions «will deliver in a time frame that is relevant for the counteroffensive,» a Pentagon official told reporters.
Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries.Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.
They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades after a conflict ends.
«Ukraine has provided written assurances that it is going to use these in a very careful way» to minimize risks to civilians, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
U.S. President Joe Biden described the decision on cluster bombs as difficult but said Ukraine needed them.
BOTH SIDES SHOULD STOP USING CLUSTER BOMBS -HRW
Human Rights Watch has accused Russian and Ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions, which have killed civilians.
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