Ukraine on track to withdraw from Ottawa anti-personnel mines treaty, Zelensky decree shows

South China Morning Post

17 hours ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he had signed a decree to pull Ukraine out of the Ottawa Convention banning the production and use of anti-personnel mines as a necessary step in view of Russian tactics in their 40-month-old war.
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Ukraine ratified the convention in 2005.
Other countries bordering Russia, notably
Finland
Poland and the three ex-Soviet Baltic states – Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania – have either withdrawn from the convention or indicated that they would do so.
Zelensky said in his nightly video address that Russia had never been a party to the convention 'and is using anti-personnel mines with utmost cynicism' along with other weapons, including ballistic missiles.
'This is a hallmark of Russian killers. To destroy life by all means at their disposal. … We see how our neighbours in Europe react to this threat,' he said.
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'We also know the complexities of the withdrawal procedure when it is conducted during war. We take this political step and give a signal to our political partners on what to focus on. This concerns all countries that border Russia,' he said.
Anti-personnel mines, Zelensky said, are 'often the instrument for which nothing can be substituted for defence purposes'.