Blinken Says Ukraine Would Be ‘Defenseless’ Without Cluster Bombs

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday defended the Biden administration’s decision to arm Ukraine with widely-banned cluster munitions, which have a devastating impact on civilians.

The US is providing Ukraine with cluster munitions in the form of 155mm artillery shells. Blinken said without the cluster bombs, Ukraine would be “defenseless” because the US and NATO are running out of regular ammunition.

“The stockpiles around the world and in Ukraine of the unitary munitions — not the cluster munitions — were running low, about to be depleted,” Blinken said in an interview on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius. “If we didn’t do it, we don’t do it, then they will run out of ammunition. If they run out of ammunition, they will be defenseless.”