BRUSSELS, July 7. /TASS/. NATO allies should decide for themselves whether or not to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Friday.

"NATO as an alliance does not have a position on the Convention on Cluster Munitions because a number of allies have signed the Convention but a number of allies have not signed the Convention; and it is for individual allies to make decisions on the delivery of weapons and military supplies to Ukraine. So this will be for governments to decide and not NATO as an alliance," he noted.

"All allies agree that we should deliver weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, and allies are delivering an unprecedented level of military support to Ukraine. <…> But when it comes to cluster ammunition, there is a difference between allies," Stoltenberg added.

The Washington Post reported earlier that US President Joe Biden had approved the provision of cluster munitions to Kiev. According to the newspaper, the decision "follows months of internal administration debate over whether to supply the controversial munitions, which are banned by most countries in the world." "The principal weapon under consideration, an M864 artillery shell first produced in 1987, is fired from the 155 mm howitzers the United States and other Western countries have provided Ukraine," the Washington Post said.

When detonated in the air, cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over an area of dozens of square meters. If unexploded immediately, these bomblets pose a threat to civilians long after the end of any conflict. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. By now, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document, but have yet to ratify it. According to Human Rights Watch, the dud rate of cluster munitions is usually much higher than the declared level, which leads to civilian casualties.