Washington, Jul 21 (IANS): The White House has confirmed that Ukraine is using the controversial cluster munitions supplied by the US "effectively".

In a statement on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: "They (Ukraine) are using them appropriatel... They're using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia's defensive formations and Russia's defensive manoeuvring. I think I can leave it at that."

Earlier this month, Ukraine received a delivery of the American-made cluster munitions after Kiev had warned that it was running out of ammunition during its counter-offensive against Russia, the BBC reported.

Ukraine has also promised to use the bombs only to dislodge concentrations of Russian enemy soldiers.

The weapons are particularly dangerous to civilians and non-combattants when fired near populated areas because they scatter explosive material, so-called “bomblets,” across large areas.

Those that fail to explode on impact can detonate years later, posing a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines, CNN reported.

The danger posed by cluster weapons has prompted more than 100 countries -- including the UK, France and Germany -- to sign a treaty prohibiting their use.

On July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow will consider using the cluster munitions against Ukraine “if they are used against us”, adding that his country had a "sufficient" stockpile of the bombs.

Speaking to CNN earlier this month, US President Joe Biden had said that the decision whether to send cluster munitions to Ukraine was “very difficult”.

But he opted to do so because Kiev needs more ammunition to continue its fight to push Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory.

In March, the UN said it had compiled credible reports that Russian forces had used cluster munitions in populated areas at least 24 times since it launched its invasion in February 2022.