00:00 First, we have been looking at this for quite some time.
00:02 And what we have been weighing is this basic question
00:05 of civilian harm.
00:07 The challenge of cluster munitions, as you know,
00:09 is that even at low dud rates, there
00:11 are some unexploded ordnance that is left,
00:14 and that could potentially pose a risk to civilians
00:16 down the road.
00:17 So we did not immediately come out of the gate
00:20 and provide this.
00:21 But we had to balance that against the risk
00:23 to civilian harm if Ukraine did not have
00:25 sufficient artillery ammunition.
00:27 We are reaching a point in this conflict
00:29 because of the dramatically high expenditure
00:32 rates of artillery by Ukraine and by Russia,
00:36 where we need to build a bridge from where we are today
00:40 to when we have enough monthly production of unitary rounds
00:44 that unitary rounds alone will suffice to give Ukraine
00:47 what it needs.
00:48 So as a result, this is the moment
00:51 to begin the construction of that bridge
00:53 so that there isn't any period over the summer
00:56 or heading into this fall when Ukraine is short on artillery.
00:59 And being short on artillery, it is
01:01 vulnerable to Russian counterattacks
01:03 that could subjugate more Ukrainian civilians.
01:06 We consulted closely with allies in deciding to do this.
01:10 And some allies who are not signatories to the Oslo
01:14 Convention embraced it with open arms,
01:16 said this is absolutely the right thing to do.
01:18 Even allies who were signatories to the Oslo Convention,
01:22 while they cannot formally support something
01:25 that they've signed up to a convention against,
01:27 have indicated both privately and many of them publicly
01:31 over the course of today that they understand our decision
01:34 and fundamentally that they recognize
01:35 the difference between Russia using its cluster munitions
01:39 to attack Ukraine and Ukraine using cluster munitions
01:42 to defend itself, its citizens, and its sovereign territory.
01:45 So we feel that this will in no way
01:48 disrupt the very strong, firm unity
01:50 that we have heading into the NATO summit in Vilnius
01:52 next week.
01:53 Ukraine has provided written assurances
01:55 that it is going to use these in a very careful way that
01:58 is aimed at minimizing any risk to civilians.
02:01 And by the way, Ukraine, the democratically elected
02:05 government of Ukraine, has every incentive
02:08 to minimize risk to civilians because it's their citizens,
02:12 it's Ukrainians who they are trying to protect and defend.
02:16 It doesn't make it an easy decision.
02:18 And I'm not going to stand up here and say it is easy.
02:19 It's a difficult decision.
02:20 It's a decision we deferred.
02:22 It's a decision that required a real hard look
02:26 at the potential harm to civilians.
02:29 And when we put all of that together,
02:32 there was a unanimous recommendation
02:34 from the national security team.
02:35 And President Biden ultimately decided in consultation
02:38 with allies and partners and in consultation
02:40 with members of Congress to move forward on this step.
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