US Decision to Send Cluster Munitions to Ukraine Aimed at Prolonging Conflict - Moscow
19:24 08.07.2023 (Updated: 22:57 08.07.2023)
© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Go to the mediabankFragments of cluster munitions used by the Ukrainian military to shell the town of Gorlovka, the Donetsk region.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Maria Zakharova slammed the deliveries as "a cynical attempt to prolong the agony of the current Ukrainian authorities without regard to civilian casualties" and "a sign of weakness in the face of the failure of the touted Ukrainian 'counteroffensive'."
The United States' decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine is intended to prolong the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.
"The decision of the administration of [US President] Joe Biden to supply the regime in Kiev with cluster munitions is another blatant manifestation of the US's aggressive policy against Russia, aimed at prolonging the conflict in Ukraine to the maximum term and the war until 'the last Ukrainian'," Zakharova said in a statement.
The steady expansion of military deliveries, designed by the US administration to "raise the stakes" in the conflict as much as possible, means that Washington and its allies are becoming increasingly involved in the hostilities, Zakharova added.
"Another 'miracle weapon,' on which Washington and Kiev are betting, without bearing in mind the grave consequences, will have no effect on the course of the special military operation, the goals and objectives of which will be fully met," Zakharova concluded.
Zakharova also added that this decision will put civilians at risk, making Washington complicit in civilian deaths caused by the explosions.
"Civilians will be affected, as they have been every time Ukraine has been handed increasingly more deadly US-NATO weapons systems," Zakharova said in the statement, adding that Ukraine's assurances to use these indiscriminate weapons "carefully" and "responsibly" are worth nothing, and Washington understands this.
The previous cases when cluster bombs were used in the Middle East and other regions demonstrate that they may fail to detonate immediately and go off after the hostilities are over, the spokeswoman noted.
"By supplying cluster munitions, Washington will in fact be an accomplice in the mining of territory and will fully share the responsibility for those killed in the explosions, including Russian and Ukrainian children," Zakharova added.