Following the announcement by the White House earlier on Friday, a number of House Democrats made their opposition known, with Pennsylvania Representative Chrissy Houlahan saying the move could blur America's perceived "moral high ground."

"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," Houlahan, an Air Force veteran and the co-chair for a congressional caucus on unexploded ordnance, said.
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Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts also issued a statement questioning the wisdom of providing cluster weapons to Kiev, saying the bombs "disperse hundreds of bomblets, which can travel far beyond military targets and injure, maim and kill civilians - often long after a conflict is over." Though Washington, Moscow, and Kiev have each declined to sign the cluster bomb treaty, he observed that a long list of US allies had already banned the munitions.

Democrats Ilhan Omar and Sara Jacobs said they will soon introduce legislation that would impose a full-blown ban on cluster bomb transfers as part of foreign military assistance. Jacobs argued the weapons would "prevent the successful economic rebuilding and recovery that's needed to ensure a prosperous Ukraine and maintain anti-corruption gains," apparently referring to Kiev's efforts to crack down on official graft as it seeks to join the NATO bloc.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "supports the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which, as you know, was adopted 15 years ago. And he wants countries to abide by the terms of that convention," his spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York. "And so as a result, of course, he does not want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield," Haq concluded.

Vienna strongly opposes providing Kiev with cluster bombs, as they can cause suffering to civilians for many years after the fighting is over, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told journalists on Friday.

Schallenberg's comments come amid media reports about Washington's alleged plans to greenlight such deliveries in the near future.

"We have a clear position," the minister said as he arrived at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Climate Conference. "These are the munition systems that are banned at an international level," he added, comparing cluster munitions to anti-personnel mines.

"Cluster bombs are still lying around for years [after a war has ended]. We have seen this in the Middle East. [They] can inflict immense damage to the civilian population years after a conflict," Schallenberg said.

The Austrian minister also warned Western leaders about the message they would send to the world by supplying Kiev with such controversial armaments. "As the West, we must pay utmost attention to what signals we are sending," he said.

He added that support for Ukraine was necessary, but insisted it "must be correct support."

• US confirms decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine

The decision by the Netherlands' longest-serving premier means the country will face a general election later this year for the 150-seat lower house of Parliament.

Henk Kamp, a senior member of Mr Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, said: "It is a great shame that the government has now fallen." Opposition politicians wasted no time in calling for fresh elections.

Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, tweeted: "Quick elections now."

Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left party also called for elections and told Dutch broadcaster NOS: "This country needs a change of direction."

The resignation follows tense talks between the four parties in Mr Rutte's ruling coalition. He had presided over late-night meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that failed to result in a deal on migration policy.

"Everybody wants to find a good, effective solution that also does justice to the fact that this is about human lives," finance minister Sigrid Kaag, a member of the centrist D66 party, said before the talks began.

The talks have underscored ideological divisions in the coalition between the partner parties that do not support a strict crackdown on migration — D66 and fellow centrist party ChristenUnie, or Christian Union — and the two that favour tougher measures — Mr Rutte's conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats.

The coalition tried for months to hash out a deal to reduce the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of nearly 18 million people.

Proposals reportedly included creating two classes of asylum — a temporary one for people fleeing conflicts and permanent one for people trying to escape persecution — and reducing the number of family members who are allowed to join asylum seekers in the Netherlands.

More than 21,500 people from outside Europe sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, according to the country's statistics office. Tens of thousands more moved to the Netherlands to work and study. The numbers have put a strain on a housing system already in short supply across the densely populated country.

Mr Rutte's government had pushed for a law that could compel municipalities to provide accommodations for newly arrived asylum seekers but the legislation has yet to pass through both houses of parliament. He also promoted European Union efforts to slow migration to the 27-nation bloc.

Mr Rutte's Cabinet will likely remain in office as a caretaker administration until a new government is formed.