Finland and Lithuania Plan Landmine Production as Russian Tensions Mount

Finland and Lithuania are preparing to begin domestic production of anti-personnel landmines in 2026, citing the growing threat posed by Russia. 

The Gaze reports on this with reference to Reuters.

Both countries, which share borders with Russia, have formally begun the process of withdrawing from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. 

The withdrawal will take effect in six months, after which national production can commence.

In parallel, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia, also NATO and EU members, have initiated similar steps to exit the treaty, though only Finland and Lithuania have confirmed production plans. 

Officials in Warsaw and Riga indicated they could ramp up manufacturing swiftly if required, while Tallinn sees domestic production as a future possibility.

Lithuania’s Deputy Defence Minister Karolis Aleksa said the country intends to spend hundreds of millions of euros on landmines, both anti-tank and anti-personnel, over the coming years. 

“Tens of thousands of anti-personnel mines, or more, will be ordered,” he stated. 

Vincas Jurgutis, head of Lithuania’s Defence Industry Association, confirmed that once production lines are active, Lithuania would be able to export mines to Ukraine.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, is also prioritizing self-sufficiency in mine production. “Finland must, for security of supply, have its own (anti-landmines) production,” said Heikki Autto, chair of the Finnish Parliament’s Defence Committee. 

He added that Finland would consider supplying mines to Ukraine, calling it “a duty and a matter of national security.”

The governments of the five withdrawing countries stress that any future deployment of mines would be defensive in nature. Poland, for example, has identified zones near its eastern border that could be rapidly mined if Russian hostilities escalate. 

As The Gaze reported earlier, on June 29, Zelenskyy signed a decree withdrawing the country from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty banning the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines.