‘We reserve the right to retaliate’: Putin on US cluster munitions for Ukraine

In an interview for the TV show “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”, the Russian President commented for the first time on the news that the US will send cluster munitions to Ukraine.

“As for cluster munitions, the US administration itself assessed them some time ago when it condemned their use as criminal. That, I think, is how we should treat it,” Putin said.

The news outlet “Agentstvo” points out that Putin is likely referencing a statement by former White House press secretary Jen Psaki in February 2022, when she reacted to reports that Russia had been using cluster munitions against civilians. She said that if these reports are true, Russia’s actions could potentially be a war crime. 

Putin explained that he believes the US are supplying Kyiv with cluster munitions “because they have a shortage of ammunition in general”. 

“Of course, if they are used against us, we reserve the right to retaliate,” he said, adding that Russia has a large stockpile of various kinds of cluster munitions. 

So far we have not used it <...> Even though we ourselves had a shortage of ammunition, we didn’t do it,” Putin claimed.

According to Human Rights Watch, since the start of the war the Russian army has used cluster munitions in attacks against Ukraine that have caused hundreds of civilian casualties.

On 7 July, the White House confirmed that the US would be sending cluster munitions to Ukraine. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Ukraine had “provided written assurances” that it would minimise the weapons’ risk for civilians.

In 2010, the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force, which prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of such weapons. The convention has been signed by 123 states and ratified by 111. Russia, the US, and China are among the non-signatories.