MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament, or senate) on Wednesday issued an appeal signed by 165 senators calling upon the world’s parliaments and parliamentary organizations to condemn Washington’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.
"The Federation Council <...> calls on the parliaments of other countries and international parliamentary organizations to condemn the US decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, which marks another step in the dangerous escalation of the conflict and will lead to serious humanitarian consequences," the appeal reads.
The senators decried "the outrageous and provocative decision by the US presidential administration." The lawmakers emphasized that the move to send cluster munitions to Ukraine "is yet another sign of weakness amid the failure of the much-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive." "Should the Kiev regime use cluster munitions, Russia will reserve the right to give a tough reciprocal response. This new 'wonder weapon' that Washington and Kiev are betting on will have no impact on the course of Russia’s special military operation, which will achieve its goals and objectives," the Federation Council noted.
The senators pointed out that the US has historically used cluster munitions in many conflicts that it unleashed, from Vietnam to Yugoslavia to Afghanistan. "The experience of using cluster munitions in various parts of the world shows that, years after the end of military activities, they can detonate, killing and injuring civilians, including women, children and the elderly," the Russian senators stressed.
"By providing cluster munitions [to Ukraine], Washington is becoming involved in the mining of vast areas and will bear full culpability for fatalities and casualties among innocent civilians," the appeal said.
On July 7, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the US had decided to provide Kiev with cluster munitions, the use of which is opposed by the United Nations. 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 that Moscow reserved the right to use cluster munitions in response to the use of such weapons by Ukraine. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that if US cluster munitions were delivered to Ukraine, Russian troops would be forced to use similar weapons against the Ukrainian army. He added that Russia had refrained from using cluster munitions during the special military operation because it was aware of the threat they posed to civilians. According to Shoigu, the supply of such weapons by the Americans will only prolong the conflict.