Zelensky withdraws Ukraine from landmark anti-mine treaty
Ukraine officially suspended its participation in the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention on Tuesday. The respective bill was passed by the country's parliament and signed into law by Vladimir Zelensky.
The landmark agreement, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Ukraine joined the treaty in 1999 and ratified it in 2005.
In announcing the decision, Zelensky claimed that it was necessary to withdraw from the convention to reach "at least parity" with Russia. Russia, as well as the United States, China, and several other countries, had never been a signatory to the treaty.
Kiev has never been fully compliant with the Ottawa Treaty, as it failed to destroy the vast stockpiles of anti-personnel mines that it inherited after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukrainian forces have been actively using the banned munitions since the early stages of the conflict in Donbass, which erupted in the aftermath of the 2014 Maidan coup.
Ukrainian troops have often been seen deploying various anti-personnel mines, including Soviet-made MON-family directional mines, as well as the notorious scatterable PFM-1 'petal' mines. The latter munitions, which are deployed through multiple rocket launcher-fired projectiles, have been repeatedly shot into densely populated civilian areas.
According to the Ottawa Treaty, a party to the agreement is allowed to withdraw from it "six months after the receipt of the instrument of withdrawal by the Depositary," i.e. the UN Secretary-General. If the country is engaged in an armed conflict when this period ends, the withdrawal will not take effect until hostilities cease.
Ukraine's withdrawal from the treaty, first announced by Zelensky on June 29, has been criticized by human rights groups. The use of anti-personnel mines only inflicts more casualties "over the short and long term," Mary Wareham, deputy director of the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Given that Ukraine is in the midst of a war, this is a symbolic move aimed at giving Ukraine political cover to flagrantly violate long-standing prohibitions on developing, producing, and using anti-personnel mines," she stressed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim rejects South Korea's appeasement overture
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed an appeasement overture by South Korea's new liberal government, saying Monday that North Korea has no interests in talks with South Korea no matter what proposal its rival offers. Kim Yo Jong's comments suggest again that North Korea, now preoccupied with its expanding cooperation with Russia, has no intentions of returning to diplomacy with South Korea and the U.S. anytime soon. But experts said North Korea could change its course if it thinks it cannot maintain the same booming ties with Russia when the Russia-Ukraine war nears an end. 'We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed with' South Korea, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June. In an effort to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea, Lee's government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier. Kim Yo Jong called such steps 'sincere efforts' by Lee's government to develop ties. But she said the Lee government won't be much different from its predecessors, citing what it calls 'their blind trust' to the alliance with the U.S. and attempt to 'stand in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned August's annual South Korea-U.S. military drills in August, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea has been shunning talks with South Korea and the U.S. since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions. North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals. North Korea now prioritizes cooperation with Russia by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine, likely in return for economic and military assistance. South Korea, the U.S. and others say Russia may give North Korea sensitive technologies that can enhance its nuclear and missile programs. Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed intent to resume diplomacy with him. But North Korea hasn't publicly responded to Trump's overture. In early 2024, Kim Jong Un ordered the rewriting of the constitution to remove the long-running state goal of a peaceful Korean unification and cement South Korea as an 'invariable principal enemy.' That caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Many experts say Kim likely aims to guard against South Korean cultural influence and bolster his family's dynastic rule. Others say Kim wants legal room to use his nuclear weapons against South Korea by making it as a foreign enemy state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity.
Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Anand says Ottawa's trucks of humanitarian aid ready to enter Gaza Strip
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa has trucks of aid ready to reach desperate Palestinians in Gaza, and is counting on Israel to allow them through. Anand says Jordan, which borders Israel and the West Bank, has allowed Canada to pre-position aid, until Israel allows it to enter the Gaza Strip. She says she spoke with her Israeli counterpart Friday 'to seek assurances that trucks carrying Canadian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Since then, Israel has said it would allow for some humanitarian corridors to be established, so that United Nations groups can deliver aid, as well as possible airdrops. 0:58 Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Anand calls for ceasefire, rules out Hamas role in Gaza future The decision came after months of experts warning that Israel's tight restrictions on aid risk creating a famine, and after hundreds of Palestinians have been killed while trying to seek food at sites established by Israel. Story continues below advertisement Israel has downplayed reports by numerous humanitarian groups operating on the ground of starvation deaths, and claims the UN has failed to distribute aid, though UN agencies say Israel still isn't allowing in enough food and fuel.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Anand counting on Israel to allow Ottawa's trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza
OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa has trucks of aid ready to reach desperate Palestinians in Gaza, and is counting on Israel to allow them through. Anand says Jordan, which borders Israel and the West Bank, has allowed Canada to pre-position aid, until Israel allows it to enter the Gaza Strip. She says she spoke with her Israeli counterpart Friday 'to seek assurances that trucks carrying Canadian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza.' Since then, Israel has said it would allow for some humanitarian corridors to be established, so that United Nations groups can deliver aid, as well as possible airdrops. The decision came after months of experts warning that Israel's tight restrictions on aid risk creating a famine, and after hundreds of Palestinians have been killed while trying to seek food at sites established by Israel. Israel has downplayed reports by numerous humanitarian groups operating on the ground of starvation deaths, and claims the UN has failed to distribute aid, though UN agencies say Israel still isn't allowing in enough food and fuel. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2025.
