Ukraine undertakes to use cluster munitions within its territory

 Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov welcomed the United States' decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv, pledging not to use them on Russian territory, while Russia considered the decision a "flagrant expression of an aggressive approach."

And Washington announced, on Friday, that it would provide Ukraine with widely banned cluster munitions to use in its counterattack against the occupying Russian forces.

On Friday, Reznikov said that the munitions will contribute to saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, adding that Ukraine will be strictly committed to recording its use of the munitions and exchanging information with its partners.

Reznikov stressed that the army would not use cluster munitions in urban areas and would only use them to "penetrate the enemy's defenses."

On the other hand, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions aims to prolong the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that this will not affect the course of the Russian military operation there, according to the Russian news agency "Sputnik."

And the Russian Foreign Ministry considered that the United States "will be a partner in mining areas and responsible for killing victims by providing Ukraine with these munitions."

More than 100 countries have banned the use of cluster munitions. Cluster munitions usually release a large number of small bombs to kill people over a large area indiscriminately, which threatens the lives of civilians. Unexploded bomblets pose a danger that will last for years after a conflict ends.

On Friday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sought to justify his country's decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions to restore its occupied territories since February 2022.

"We understand that cluster munitions pose a threat to civilians from unexploded ordnance. That is why we are delaying the decision as long as possible," Sullivan told reporters.

"But there is also a great risk of harming civilians if Russian troops and tanks overrun Ukrainian positions, seize more Ukrainian lands, and subdue more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery," he added.

Pentagon said in a statement that the administration would provide "artillery systems and additional ammunition, including improved dual-use, highly effective conventional munitions (cluster munitions), on which the administration has consulted extensively with Congress and our allies and partners."