Putin Says Russia Will Use Cluster Bombs If It Has To

Russian president warns his country has a sufficient stockpile’ of the controversial weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has a "sufficient stockpile" of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia "reserves the right to take reciprocal action" if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.

In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the US, Putin said that Russia has not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far.

"Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need," he said, although the use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine has been widely documented, including by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organizations, and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes.

Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel Sunday ahead of a scheduled broadcast Sunday night.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the US had arrived in Ukraine.