Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Biden Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit for providing his country with cluster bombs, highly controversial munitions that are outlawed by more than 100 nations.
Zelensky acknowledged it was a “difficult political decision” for Biden to move forward on providing the weapons, which make an explosive more dangerous by indiscriminately dispersing hundreds of projectiles over a larger area.
“It’s very simple, you know, to criticize, for example, cluster munitions, and you made a difficult political decision,” Zelensky told Biden as the pair appeared together in Vilnius, Lithuania, amid the NATO summit.
“But you have to know that Russia used such weapons from the first day [of its aggression against Ukraine] … I didn’t hear from all parts of the world when Russia began to use it; I didn’t a hear the same kind of criticism,” Zelensky added.
Biden had earlier defended his decision to send the weapons to Kyiv amid concerns that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are running out of ammunition as they carry out a large-scale counteroffensive against Russian forces more than 16 months into Moscow’s invasion.
Lawmakers in Washington have expressed concerns about providing the cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Biden told Zelensky on Wednesday the U.S. “is doing everything we can to get you everything we can.”
“Bad news for you is we’re not going anywhere. You’re stuck with us,” the president joked.
The meeting between Biden and Zelensky came on the second and final day of the NATO summit, a critical meeting for allied-members and Ukraine that reaffirmed Western commitment to Ukraine’s defense as it works to push Russian soldiers out of its territory.
While Zelensky initially criticized NATO allies for failing to provide a concrete timetable for Ukraine to join the alliance, he said the outcome of the summit provided for “very much needed and meaningful success for Ukraine.”
“Our delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children,” he said in earlier remarks.