The President of Ukraine has signed a decree enacting the decision of the National Security and Defence Council on Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty prohibiting the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines.
This was announced by People’s Deputy Roman Kostenko. According to him, this decision is dictated by the realities of war, since Russia is not a party to the Convention and is using mines against Ukrainian military and civilians on a massive scale.
‘We cannot remain bound when the enemy has no restrictions,’ Kostenko said.
Now the issue must be considered by the Verkhovna Rada. Legislative consolidation will finally give Ukraine the right to use mines to defend its territory.
Recall that Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are also withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention. They cite military threats from Russia and Belarus, which have increased significantly in recent years, as the reason. Recently, the Finnish parliament also voted to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention due to its proximity to Russia.