WASHINGTON, July 14. /TASS/. The armed forces of Ukraine are desperate at this point and will undoubtedly not abide by any restrictions while using cluster munitions provided by the United States, the Russian Embassy in the United States said in a statement on Friday.

"We have noted a Pentagon's announcement that cluster munitions have been delivered to Ukraine. We have also taken note of statements by the Administration’s officials about some ‘promises,’ given by the Kiev regime to use these weapons with ‘the highest incentive to limits’ and in ‘appropriate places,’" the embassy said.

"Such statements by US officials are a clumsy attempt to justify their own provocative actions. Anyone who follows the conflict knows that Kiev has been using US security assistance to hit civilian targets in the hope of intimidating us and ‘killing as many Russians as possible,’" Russian diplomats added. "The strikes have been carried out against residential areas where there are no military facilities whatsoever."

"It is hard to imagine how many civilian casualties there will be, including Ukrainians, when the Kiev criminals start using U.S. cluster munitions. There is no doubt that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not abide by any 'restrictions' in selecting their targets since they are desperate due to the colossal losses as well as inability to achieve successes on the front," the Russian diplomatic mission said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu warned that, if US cluster munitions are ever supplied to Ukraine, Russia will have to use similar weapons against Ukrainian troops. According to him, Russia has so far refrained from using cluster munitions in its special military operation as it realizes how dangerous they can be for civilians. Washington providing such weapons will only prolong the conflict, he said.