Nato allies 'uncomfortable' with US plans to send Ukraine cluster bombs
Nato allies arming Ukraine are "uncomfortable" with US President Joe Biden's plans to send Ukraine cluster bombs, a former senior diplomat has said.
Lord Ricketts, who served as the UK's first national security adviser, told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News: "You can feel the allies are all very uncomfortable with this.
"We have all of us, apart from the Americans, signed up to the convention which means we don't produce or stockpile or use these weapons. They are indiscriminate weapons, of course.
"I think we do owe it to the Ukrainians to understand why they need these weapons.
"This offensive that they have launched, there is a lot riding on it. If it stagnates, bogs down, the risk is this war will just continue."
He added: "It is a hard choice of the kind that countries have to make in war time. I am uncomfortable with it, yes I wish it wasn't being done, but I think we can understand why they are doing it."
The weapons deploy a large number of bomblets across a wide area, with unexploded bomblets continuing to pose a threat to civilians long after conflicts end.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits their use or stockpiling due to their indiscriminate effect on civilian populations.
The US, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories and both Moscow and Kyiv have used cluster munitions so far in the war.
The shadow chancellor also told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme cluster munitions are not the "appropriate weapons" to send to Ukraine.
Rachel Reeves has said: "We all agree that Ukraine needs to be properly armed to fight Russia and their illegal invasion.
"But I am concerned about the use of cluster bombs, and it is not just the UK who has these concerns, other countries clearly do as well.
"So I would like to find a way to properly arm Ukraine but without using these weapons which can have an impact, not just on the battlefield that time, on that day, but for months and years afterwards.
"That is something that causes me deep concern, and many other people as well.
"While I support President Biden's desire to ensure Ukraine is fully armed to fight Russia, I am not convinced that these are the appropriate weapons."
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made clear Britain "discourages" the use of cluster munitions after Joe Biden agreed to send the bombs to Ukraine to aid the fight against Russia.
Mr Sunak will meet Mr Biden in London on Monday ahead of a Nato summit.
He said Britain was instead supporting Kyiv by providing tanks and long-range weapons.
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