United States President Joe Biden stated Friday that sending the cluster munitions to Ukraine was a "difficult decision." However, he added, Kiev "needed them."
"It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies. I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill," Biden said in an exclusive interview to CNN, adding, "The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition."
The decision has not been easy, as there are more than 100 countries, including strong US allies such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany, that have banned these munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Yet the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.