Last weekend, President Biden admitted that the United States is running low on ammunition, the New York Post reported.
During a rare television interview on CNN Sunday morning, Biden justified his approval for sending cluster munition to Ukraine, saying it was Ukraine is “running out of ammunition.” The president added the surprising revelation that the US is also running “low on it.”
Unsurprisingly, the president’s admission came as a surprise.
According to the Washington Examiner, in November, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh assured reporters that the US will not drop below “readiness levels” in supplying military aid to Ukraine.
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance described Biden’s remark as a “stunning admission” and warned that the military aid sent to Ukraine is a “massive drain on our national security.”
Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs called for the US to stop sending further aid to Ukraine, saying on Twitter, “America comes first.”
Conservative Steve Guest pointed out that America’s adversaries heard Biden’s foolish admission.
However, the White House was quick to walk back the president’s comments.
When asked by Fox News to comment on the reactions to Biden’s admission, a White House official said in a statement that the military maintains specific requirements for the amount of ammunition and the number of weapons systems required for its reserves “in case of contingencies or military conflict.”
The official asserted that the military aid sent to Ukraine “is in excess” of those requirements, therefore, the United States is not running low on ammunition.
Administration officials have been debating for months whether to send cluster munitions to Ukraine before the president made the decision.
At a White House press briefing last week, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cited the risk to civilians from the “unexploded ordnance” in cluster munitions as the reason why US officials “deferred the decision for as long as we could.”
