UNITED NATIONS, July 7. /TASS/. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres supports the Convention on Cluster Munitions and is against the use of such weapons on the battlefield, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said on Friday, commenting on media reports that the United States plans to supply such munitions to Ukraine.

"The Secretary General 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. And so as a result, of course, he does not want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield," he said.

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.