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Deliveries of cluster munitions to Kiev harm remnants of Russia-US ties — ambassador

The Russian Ambassador to the United States noted that the Russian Federation will take this step into account in its work
Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov Sergei Bobylev/TASS
Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. The deliveries of cluster munitions to Ukraine are dealing a blow to remnants of ties between Moscow and Washington, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.

"As far as Russia-US relations are concerned, they are practically non-existent at this point," the diplomat told Russia’s Channel One. "Naturally, the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine deals a serious blow to those remains, or pieces, of the Russian-US times."

"I would like to tell you that we will certainly take this anti-Russian step on the part of [US President Joe Biden’s] administration into account when working with Washington," Antonov added.

US President Joe Biden told CNN on July 7 that his country decided to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine due to shortages of conventional shells. On July 13, US Army Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, Director of Operations of the US Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Ukrainian armed forces had received cluster munitions from the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Moscow reserved the right to use cluster munitions in response to the use of such weapons by Ukraine. In his opinion, deliveries of this type of munitions and their use should be viewed as a crime.