OAN’s Roy Francis
10:30 AM – Saturday, July 1, 2023
Officials in the Biden administration confirmed that they are considering providing Ukraine with cluster bombs on Friday.
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According to NBC News, two officials in the Biden administration said that the White House is leaning towards providing Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICMs) to Ukraine.
According to The Hill, the unnamed officials said that “no decision has yet been made but, the U.S. is considering DPICMs for the Ukrainians.”
The Joint Chiefs of Chairman General Mark Milley was asked about the report while at the National Press Club on Friday.
“I’m not going to get out in front of decision making by the president,” he said. “We consider all kinds of options, there’s a decision-making process ongoing and it’s a continuous ongoing process. To my knowledge, I don’t know of a decision yet.”
The DPICMs, designed during the Cold War, are surface-to-surface warheads that are designed to explode and send multiple small munitions, which can range from small rounds to small explosives, over a wide area to cause as much damage as possible. The rounds that are dispelled can also be shape charges that are designed to penetrate armored vehicle.
Kyiv has been asking the United States for the weapon since 2022, however the White House has held off on providing them due to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The 2008 international treaty, bans the transfer, use and stockpiling of the weapons due to risk that the weapon poses to civilians, which would constitute a war crime.
However, even though more than 120 countries signed the treaty in 2008, the U.S., Ukraine and Russia did not.
When reports suggested that Russia had been using the weapon in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the act saying that it was “inhumane” and “in violation” of international law.
According to the officials in the Biden administration, an announcement regarding the transfer of the weapons could come sometime in July.
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