Sputnik/Yekaterina Shtukina/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoJuly 12 (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said late on Tuesday that the increase in military assistance to Ukraine by the NATO alliance brings World War Three closer. World War Three is getting closer," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He also advocated on Tuesday for using the "inhuman weapon" that is cluster munitions after what he said were reports of Ukraine already using it. The U.S. announced it would supply Kyiv with cluster munitions that typically release large numbers of small bomblets over a wide area and are banned by many countries. Russia and Ukraine have previously accused each other of already using cluster munitions in the 500-day war.

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Persons: Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolay Pankov, Vladimir Putin, Medvedev, it's, Sergei Shoigu, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Deputy, Sputnik, NATO, Ukraine, Kremlin, U.S, Russian, Thomson Locations: Volgograd region, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Lithuania, Kyiv, Moscow, United States, Melbourne