US defence chief defends decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on July 13 defended Washington's controversial decision to support Ukraine with cluster munitions despite the risk to civilians.

“First of all, I think we should remember that they are fighting hard to defend their sovereign territory,” Austin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “You know, they're not asking for the munitions to go invade ... another country, as the Russians did, they’ve been using cluster munitions from the very beginning."

Cluster munitions scatter “bomblets” across large areas that can fail to explode on impact and can pose a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines. More than 100 countries have outlawed the weapons under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the US, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to the ban.

Both the Ukrainians and the Russians have used cluster bombs since Moscow’s forces invaded in February 2022.

The Ukrainians have committed to making sure these munitions are used only in the “appropriate places,” and not in populated areas, Austin said.

“They will record the places that they use them and they will prioritize demining efforts,” he said. “And we will help them do that, in those places where they gave us the conditions.”

Asked by Blitzer how long the US would need to provide cluster bombs to Kyiv, Austin said he wants to make sure “Ukraine can remain successful in their fight,” so he would not “speculate how long that’s going to take.”

"We're going stay focused on making sure that they have what they need to continue to provide the support for their manoeuvre," Austin said.

Austin also said on that he has "no doubt" Ukraine will join NATO once its war with Russia is over.

"We heard just about every country in the room say as much,” Austin said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer in Vilnius following the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital.

Austin said that there is “still work to be done” in bringing Ukraine's equipment and training up to NATO standards.

While “we are doing this work now as they fight this war," he said, "there is more that will need to be done to ensure that they have a full complement of capabilities.”