Mike Pence backs U.S. sending cluster munitions to Ukraine

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Monday he supports President Joe Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine despite pushback from some members of Congress, human rights groups and the prohibition on them in more than 100 countries.

Pence, who's running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, said in an interview on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" that it's in the U.S. interest "to give the Ukrainians what they need to stop [Russians] there."

"But Joe Biden’s been slow on it," Pence said. "I mean, he just approved the cluster munitions, which the Russians have been using for a year and a half against Ukrainian forces."

"I welcome the cluster munitions," added Pence, who suggested that providing the weapons is key to Ukraine's success in battling Russia. "I think it ends by giving the Ukrainians what they need to win."

Biden is set to meet with U.S. allies at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Ukraine is expected to be a central issue in the meetings he holds there. A number of America's closest allies — the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain — have opposed sending the weapons to Ukraine.

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Biden faces backlash for deciding to send cluster bombs to Ukraine

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Biden has also received blowback from members of his own party. Nearly two dozen congressional Democrats expressed frustration with the administration Friday, echoing warnings from human rights groups that the cluster munitions could harm civilians.

The munitions are surface-to-surface warheads that disperse small munitions or bombs over wide areas, which can explode long after a conflict is over and sometimes injure or kill innocent people. The Defense Department announced Friday that the weapons would be part of another aid package to Ukraine.

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Biden defended the decision in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that aired Sunday, arguing that Ukraine needed the weapons because its forces are running out of ammunition.

Pence, meanwhile, has been focusing on the war on the campaign trail, offering Ukraine full-throated support that has distinguished him from some of the other GOP candidates, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Pence made a surprise visit to Ukraine in late June, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the 2024 election cycle.

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Trump, on the other hand, hasn't publicly expressed support for Ukraine. In fact, he deflected numerous times during a CNN town hall in May when he was asked whether he would supply weapons and equipment to Ukraine if he were president again. He said that the war would never have happened under his watch and that he could broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours.

DeSantis said in mid-March, before he officially announced his presidential bid, that protecting Ukraine isn't a "vital" national interest for the U.S. and labeled the conflict a "territorial dispute." A few days later, he reversed course by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal."

The GOP campaigns were asked for comment to gauge where other candidates stand on the munitions issue.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said she supports the decision.

"This is long overdue. Joe Biden’s weak and slow approach has dragged out this war far longer than it should have gone," she said in a statement provided by her campaign.

Pence appeared to take aim at both Trump and DeSantis in his interview Monday.

"My former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you’d solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted," he said.

Later, without naming DeSantis, he said: "This is a straight-up Russian invasion. This is not a territorial dispute."