Jordan Daily – US President Joe Biden said it had taken him “a while to be convinced to do it”, but he had acted because “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition”.
Ukraine’s leader hailed the “timely” move, while a Moscow envoy slammed Washington’s “cynicism”.
Cluster bombs are banned by more than 120 countries.
Mr Biden told CNN in an interview on Friday that he had spoken to allies about the decision, which comes ahead of a Nato summit in Lithuania next week.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Friday’s daily White House briefing that officials “recognise the cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm” from unexploded bombs.
“This is why we’ve deferred the decision for as long as we could.”
Mr Sullivan said Ukraine was running out of artillery and needed “a bridge of supplies” while the US ramps up domestic production.
“We will not leave Ukraine defenceless at any point in this conflict period,” he said.
The munitions have caused controversy over their failure – or dud – rate, meaning unexploded small bombs can linger on the ground for years and indiscriminately detonate later on.
Mr Sullivan told reporters the American cluster bombs being sent to Ukraine were far safer than those he said were already being used by Russia in the conflict.
He told reporters the US ones have a dud rate of less than 2.5%, while Russia’s have a dud rate of between 30-40%, he said.
Mr Biden’s move will bypass US law prohibiting the production, use or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1%.
Early on in the war, when the White House was asked about allegations that Russia was using cluster and vacuum bombs, the then-press secretary said it would be a potential “war crime” if true.
Marta Hurtado, speaking for the UN human rights office, said on Friday: “The use of such munitions should stop immediately and not be used in any place.”
