Joe Biden is set to arrive in Britain tonight to a row over his decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions.
The US President is expected to fly to the UK late this evening ahead of meeting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles tomorrow.
He is facing a storm of criticism for agreeing to send cluster bombs to Ukraine to aid the country’s fight against Russia.
More than 100 countries around the world – including Britain – are signatories to a convention banning their use due to a track record of killing civilians.
Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves this morning said she held ‘deep concern’ about Mr Biden’s actions and said she was ‘not convinced that these are the appropriate weapons’.
Treasury minister Victoria Atkins stressed Britain would ‘stick by’ the convention banning the use of cluster munitions.
And Lord Ricketts, a former national security adviser, warned that NATO allies were ‘very uncomfortable’ with the action by the White House.
Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed ‘deep concern’ about Joe Biden’s actions and said she was ‘not convinced that these are the appropriate weapons’
The US President, pictured with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has agreed to send cluster bombs to Kyiv
Boris Johnson has given his full backing to Mr Biden’s ‘difficult but brave decision’ to supply cluster munitions to Kyiv
The PM this weekend made clear the UK ‘discourages’ the use of the weapons.
But one of his predecessors, Boris Johnson, has given his full backing to Mr Biden’s ‘difficult but brave decision’ to supply cluster munitions to Kyiv.
The US, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to the convention banning cluster munitions and both Moscow and Kyiv have used the weapons so far in the war.
The White House has argued that Ukraine has provided assurances it will not use cluster bombs in urban areas.
Asked about Mr Biden’s decision this morning, Ms Reeves told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday show: ‘We all agree that Ukraine needs to be properly armed to fight Russia and their illegal invasion.
‘But I am concerned about the use of cluster bombs, and it is not just the UK who has these concerns, other countries clearly do as well.
‘So I would like to find a way to properly arm Ukraine but without using these weapons which can have an impact, not just on the battlefield that time, on that day, but for months and years afterwards.
‘That is something that causes me deep concern, and many other people as well.
‘While I support President Biden’s desire to ensure Ukraine is fully armed to fight Russia, I am not convinced that these are the appropriate weapons.’
Ms Atkins, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, told the same programme: ‘We, the UK, have signed the convention that prohibits their use and discourages their use.
‘And of course we stick by that convention and we are trying to do what we can to support Ukraine.
‘So last year we spent some £2.3 billion in giving Ukraine help in all sorts of practical ways, including heavy artillery and tanks and so on, and we will continue that this year.
‘But we we have signed this convention and for us, that is our position on these.’
Mr Biden’s visit to the UK comes ahead of Tuesday’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Lord Ricketts, who served as the UK’s first national security adviser, said that members of the security alliance were concerned by the US President’s move.
‘You can feel the allies are all very uncomfortable with this,’ he said.
‘We have all of us, apart from the Americans, signed up to the convention which means we don’t produce or stockpile or use these weapons. They are indiscriminate weapons, of course.
‘I think we do owe it to the Ukrainians to understand why they need these weapons.
‘This offensive that they have launched, there is a lot riding on it. If it stagnates, bogs down, the risk is this war will just continue.’
He added: ‘It is a hard choice of the kind that countries have to make in war time.
‘I am uncomfortable with it, yes I wish it wasn’t being done, but I think we can understand why they are doing it.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the US for the ‘timely, broad and much-needed defence aid package’ that will ‘bring Ukraine closer to victory over the enemy, and democracy to victory over dictatorship’.