President Biden’s choice to ship cluster munitions to Ukraine has angered a variety of Democrats, who’re accusing his administration of creating a hypocritical choice that risked the ethical standing of the United States.

The transfer answered a monthslong clamor from congressional Republicans to produce Kyiv with the weapons, however Mr. Biden’s political allies denounced it.

“A victory for Ukraine is an essential victory for democracies across the globe, but that victory cannot come at the expense of our American values and thus democracy itself,” Representative Chrissy Houlahan, Democrat of Pennsylvania and an Air Force veteran who co-chairs a bipartisan congressional caucus on unexploded ordnance and demining, mentioned in a press release on Friday. “I challenge the notion that we should employ the same tactics Russia is using, blurring the lines of moral high ground.”

She and different Democrats argued that cluster munitions of the sort the administration plans to ship to Ukraine pose indiscriminate hurt to civilians lengthy after they’re utilized in fight.

The weapons “disperse hundreds of bomblets, which can travel far beyond military targets and injure, maim and kill civilians — often long after a conflict is over,” mentioned Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts. In a press release, he identified that a number of NATO members — although not the United States — are events to a global treaty banning their use.

The few Republicans who spoke about Mr. Biden’s choice on Friday, nevertheless, praised him for taking what they mentioned was a needed step.

“For Ukrainian forces to defeat Putin’s invasion, Ukraine needs at least equal access to the weapons Russia already uses against them, like cluster munitions,” Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, mentioned in a press release. “Providing this new capability is the right decision — even if it took too long — and is one I’ve long supported.”

For months, the highest Republicans on the Senate and House overseas affairs and armed providers committees — Representatives Michael McCaul of Texas and Mike Rogers of Alabama and Senators James Risch of Idaho and Roger Wicker of Mississippi — have been calling on the Biden administration to supply Ukraine with dual-purpose improved standard munitions, of the type that had been permitted on Friday.

In a joint letter to Mr. Biden in March, the 4 wrote that the weapons “will allow Ukraine to compensate for Russia’s quantitative advantage in both personnel and artillery rounds, and will allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to concentrate their use of unitary warheads against higher-value Russian targets.”

They added that the munitions “could help fill a key gap for Ukraine’s military, and, in concert with other provided capabilities, continue to push Putin’s forces out of Ukraine.”

But most Democrats maintained that even when that had been true, the cluster munitions would compromise the better aim of constructing a sturdy Ukrainian state.

“Cluster munitions prevent the successful economic rebuilding and recovery that’s needed to ensure a prosperous Ukraine and maintain anti-corruption gains,” Representative Sara Jacobs, Democrat of California, mentioned in a press release. She joined this week with Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, to introduce laws prohibiting exports of cluster munitions as army help. The duo plan to suggest the measure as an modification to the annual protection invoice when the House considers it subsequent week.