Over 100 countries, including the UK, France, and Germany, have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban. Ryder said the Russians have been using cluster munitions with a dud rate of as high as 40%. Biden reluctant at firstBiden was reluctant at first, officials told CNN, given how many countries worldwide have banned the munitions. It is not clear whether the heavy amount of artillery ammunition the Ukrainians have been expending day-to-day would be sustainable without the cluster munitions if the counteroffensive drags on, officials and military analysts said. Russia’s Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said the US decision was “a move of desperation.”“As part of the continued assistance to the Kiev regime, Washington is considering the possibility of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine.

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Persons: Jake Sullivan, Biden, “ I’m, ” Sullivan, “, It’s, Joe Biden, Colin Kahl, Boris Pistorias, ” Biden, Patrick Ryder, Kahl, Ryder, Belarus Boris Gryzlov, ”, ” Gryzlov Organizations: CNN, National, Patriot Missile, Pentagon, Defense Department, Munitions, Ukraine, Cluster Munitions, Rights Watch, Foreign, Department of Defense Locations: Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany, Berlin, China, U.S, United States, Belarus, Kiev, Washington, Russian, Ukrainian