WASHINGTON, July 6. /TASS/. The US is still considering whether to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine and has no announcements at this point, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said on Thursday.
He made the comment to reporters aboard Air Force One heading from Washington to South Carolina, when asked whether US President Joe Biden had made a decision to transfer such bombs.
"As Chairman [of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark] Milley indicated, that is under active consideration. I do not have an announcement to make at this time," he said. "Our focus is on continuing to equip Ukraine with a wide range of munitions."
Bates said the US is seeking to ensure that Ukrainian forces "can be as strong as possible."
The New York Times reported earlier that Washington had agreed to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine and would announce the decision soon. Russia’s envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said the US would only exacerbate the situation, were it to supply such bombs.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Laura Cooper said in June that cluster munitions could impact the situation on the battlefield, coming in handy for the Ukrainian armed forces, particularly in terms of attacks on entrenched Russian forces.
Cluster munitions are charges loaded with a large number of explosive submunitions, including anti-tank, anti-personnel and incendiary types. Armies in many countries are equipped with such ammunition in the form of bombs, artillery shells and missile warheads. The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force on August 1, 2010. As many as 123 countries signed the document but only 110 ratified it. The signatories vowed, in particular, to never and under no circumstances make, use or transfer such munitions. As for European countries, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland and Estonia did not sign the convention.