"Our current plan is not to replenish that stockpile, it is rather to build up the capacity to produce the unitary round, the 155, the non-cluster munition round of the ammunition. We began that process months ago, because we anticipated the need for continuing supply to Ukraine, but it takes time," Sullivan told a US broadcaster on Sunday.
On Thursday, Pentagon’s Joint Staff Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II told a briefing that Ukraine had received cluster munitions from the United States, as well as other countries.
On July 7, the US unveiled a new military assistance package for Ukraine, which included cluster munitions. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned on July 11 that the Russian military would be forced to use similar weapons, which it has plenty of in stocks, against the Ukrainian armed forces if the US supplies cluster munitions to Kiev.
Cluster munitions are banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has been ratified by 123 countries. The US, Ukraine, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and South Korea have not signed the convention.
Western countries have been supplying Ukraine with military aid since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The support evolved from light artillery munitions and training in 2022 to heavier weapons, including tanks, later that year and in 2023. In recent months, Ukraine has been pushing to be supplied with F-16 fighter jets. The Kremlin has repeatedly warned against further arms deliveries to Kiev, saying that it will just prolong the hostilities.