Biden defends the need to deliver cluster bombs to Ukraine because "this war is about ammunition"

Republican congressmen support sending cluster bombs

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has defended this Sunday the decision to deliver cluster bombs to Ukraine because it is necessary for the war effort in Kiev and because "this war is about ammunition".

"This is a war that is about ammunition and they are running out of that ammunition," Biden said in an interview with CNN broadcast this Sunday.

The United States approved on Friday the delivery of cluster bombs to Ukraine, an initiative widely criticized because this type of ammunition is prohibited by international treaties due to the damage it causes among the civilian population. So Biden defended the measure despite the fact that it was a "difficult decision."

Several congressmen have spoken out about the use of this ammunition. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Michael McCaul, has supported the decision because Russia is using this ammunition "with impunity".

"All the Ukrainians are asking for is that we give them the same weapons that the Russians have to use in their own country against the Russians that are in their country," McCaul told CNN. In addition, he recalled that neither the United States nor Ukraine have signed any treaty that prevents them from using them.

On the other hand, Democrat Barbara Lee, the only congresswoman who voted against the invasion of Afghanistan, has warned that this handover means "crossing a line." "Cluster bombs should never be used (...). We risk losing our moral leadership", she has stressed.

On the other hand, Biden has defended in the interview with CNN the integration of Ukraine into NATO, although he has qualified that this accession will not take place until the armed conflict with Russia ends.

"I don't think there is unanimity in NATO to include Ukraine in the NATO family now, right now, in the middle of a war. For example, if it did, we would be determined to defend every inch of NATO territory. It's a commitment that we have and that is inalienable. If the war continues, then we would all be at war. We would all be at war with Russia, if that were the case," he argued.

The tenant of the White House has pointed out that he has spoken at length about the issue with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, to whom he has assured that the United States will continue to support Ukraine with weapons and security just as it does with Israel.

"I think we have to build a rational path so that Ukraine can be suitable to enter NATO," he pointed out, while recalling that even before the conflict he rejected Moscow's demands to veto Ukraine's entry into the Alliance because it has "an open door policy."

"But I think it is premature to call a vote because there are other criteria to be met, such as democratization and other issues," he added.

Next week the NATO leaders have met in Vilnius, Lithuania, in a key summit for both Ukraine and Sweden, a country that has applied to join the Alliance, but has not been able to materialize due to Turkey's veto. In the interview with CNN, Biden expressed his optimism in this regard because Turkey is interested in modernizing its fleet of F-16 combat aircraft, just like Greece.