MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax) - Russia's Federation Council has called on foreign parliaments to denounce the United States' decision to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine.
"The Russian Federation Council appeals to the parliaments of foreign countries and international parliamentary organizations to denounce the U.S.' decision to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine as yet another step which dangerously escalates the conflict [and] which will have serious humanitarian consequences," the council said in an address adopted on Wednesday.
It denounced "the blatant and provocative decision by the U.S. presidential administration."
"If the Kiev regime uses cluster munitions, the Russian Federation reserves the right to take a tough symmetric response. The new 'miracle weapon' which Washington and Kiev are pinning their hopes on will have no effect on the course of the special military operation conducted by the Russian Federation, and its goals and objectives will be achieved," it said.
The U.S. previously used cluster munitions in various armed conflicts in a number of countries, including Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan, the council said.
"The experience of using cluster munitions in various parts of the world shows that their unexploded elements may detonate years after combat ends, killing and maiming civilians, including women, children, and the elderly. Most of the victims of cluster munitions are people injured while busy with their routine daily activities, and one third of all recorded victims are children," it said.