Asian nations affected by cluster bombs call on U.S. not to send them to Ukraine

Southeast Asian nations still struggling to clear cluster munitions dropped on them by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War are pleading with the Americans to back away from sending the deadly bombs to Ukraine.

In a rare statement posted online Monday by the Laotian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government called on unspecified states or actors from all use, transfer or production of such munitions "so that no one in the world would be victimized” by such weapons.

"As the world’s largest victim of cluster munitions and a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic expresses its profound concern over the announcement and the possible use of cluster munitions,” the statement said.