MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. It’s hard to say whether the reports alleging Turkey’s cluster munition supplies to Ukraine are true, but Moscow is closely watching the situation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Asked to comment on allegations that Ankara has been supplying cluster munitions to Kiev since last October, Peskov said, "Of course, it’s hard to say whether the reports are true. You know that the number of fake reports exceeds the volume of truthful information, therefore, certainly, we are closely monitoring all this."
The Kremlin spokesman reiterated that Russia was well aware of deliveries of Turkish Bayraktar drones and ammunition to Ukraine. However, Peskov said, Turkey has both obligations as a NATO member and maintains its own bilateral relations with other countries. "And yet, we do share very close partnership relations with Turkey that are built on mutual benefit, mutual understanding, mutual respect and a mutual willingness to discuss the most challenging issues," he emphasized.
Earlier, the Foreign Policy magazine reported, citing US and European officials, that Turkey has been supplying Cold War cluster munitions to Ukraine since November. According to the publication, Turkey has been delivering the so-called dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) it made during the Cold War era under a contract with the United States. Originally, they were designed to destroy armored vehicles.