MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) - Russia refrains from the use of cluster munitions, but will resort to such bombs in response to their supplies to Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"We, the United States, and Kiev have never signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. At the same time, Russia, being aware of the threat such munitions pose for civilians, has been refraining and is refraining from using them during the special military operation," the minister told reporters on Tuesday.
"If the U.S. delivers cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces will be forced to use similar munitions against the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a retaliatory measure," Shoigu said.
"It needs to be said that Russia has cluster munitions, as they say, for all occasions in its arsenal. And they are much more effective than the U.S. ones, its range is wider and more diverse," the minister said.
At present, the command of the Joint Group of Forces in the special military operation zone is taking "additional organizational and technical measures to protect personnel and hardware against submunitions of cluster bombs," he said.