NEW YORK, July 14. /TASS/. Washington’s decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine will have no effect on the conflict and reflects the failure of the policy of US President Joe Biden’s administration, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh reported, citing a knowledgeable source.

An article, posted by Hersh on his website, quotes an anonymous source as saying that cluster munitions will not lead to any significant Ukrainian success on the battlefield.

"Biden’s principal issue in the war is that he’s screwed," an informed official was quoted as saying. He believes that the United States is "giving them cluster bombs now because that’s all we got left in the cupboard."

According to the journalist’s source, "cluster bombs have zero chance of changing the course" of the conflict. At the same time, he suggested that "the real worry" will come later this summer, perhaps as early as August, "when the Russians, having easily weathered the Ukraine assault, will counter-strike with a major offensive."

On July 7, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States had decided to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the fact that the United Nations opposed the use of such munitions. He also said that Kiev had issued written assurances to Washington that those weapons would be used in a way so as to minimize risks to civilians. Pentagon Spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Thursday that the United States was poised to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions that posed the least risk to civilians.

Cluster bombs can contain hundreds of separate munitions. When detonated in the air, cluster munitions scatter bomblets over an area of dozens of square meters. If unexploded immediately, these bomblets remain lying on the ground, posing a threat to civilians long after the end of a conflict. Depending on the type of munitions, from 10 to 40% of bomblets do not explode. In recent decades, such bombs have been fitted with self-destruct devices, which activate within a few days after use, but around five percent of them do not go off and become mines.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008. To date, 111 countries have joined it, while another 12 nations have signed the document but have yet to ratify it.