Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended President Biden’s decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine in the country’s war with Russia, saying in an interview that Ukraine would have been “defenseless” without it.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Blinken, who was at the NATO summit in Lithuania, told host Andrea Mitchell that Ukraine’s stockpile of cluster bombs was running out and was almost exhausted.
“The stockpiles around the world and in Ukraine of the unitary munitions, not the cluster munitions, were running out, about to be depleted,” Blinken told Mitchell.
“And so, the hard but necessary choice to give them the cluster munitions amounted to this: If we didn’t do it, we don’t do it, then they will run out of ammunition,” he added. “If they run out of ammunition, then they will be defenseless.”
Blinken also dismissed concerns that the cluster bombs provided by the U.S. would create a deadly hazard in Ukraine, noting there’s already a great hazard concern in the country due to Russia’s use of the weapon, according to NBC News.
When asked whether the U.S. was ceding the moral high ground by supplying Ukraine with weapons that the U.S. and its allies have criticized Russia for using in the war, Blinken responded by saying “every ally I’ve talked to has said they understand why we’re doing this when we’re doing it.”
Numerous NATO members have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions treaty, which bans the use, production and sale of cluster bombs due to the risks they pose to civilians, NBC News reported. The U.S., Russia and Ukraine have not signed the treaty.
The Biden administration announced last week that it plans to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, an explosive weapon that contains multiple explosive submunitions.
In a CNN interview, Biden defended his decision, saying that he believes Ukraine needed the weapon, while noting it was a “very difficult decision.”
Lawmakers are split on the administration’s decision to send the bombs to Ukraine, with some saying that the bombs will threaten civilians’ safety.