ISTANBUL

The Cambodian prime minister on Monday warned against the use of cluster munitions in the Ukraine war, urging the West to play its role in preventing Washington and Kyiv from employing the "deadly weapon."

In a statement on Twitter, Hun Sen called on NATO members, and US allies such as the UK, Spain, Germany, and Canada, who are signatory to the Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions, “to take responsibility and jointly prevent the US President Joe Biden and the president of Ukraine from using this deadly weapon.”

His remarks came after the White House confirmed the US would supply Kyiv with the widely condemned bombs as part of a new $800 million security package.

While Biden has defended his move as difficult but necessary, several of the US allies are said to have expressed unease at the decision.

More than 100 countries have signed the 2008 convention to ban the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of cluster bombs, which release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.

Cluster munitions have been used in 41 countries since World War II, according to data by the Geneva-based Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), an international organization working to ban the widely condemned bombs.