Ukrainian President Signs Decree to Withdraw Country from Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree withdrawing the country from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty banning the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to the text of the decree on the president's website and Colonel Roman Kostenko of the Security Service of Ukraine on Facebook.
‘Guided by the national interests of Ukraine, with the aim of protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, the National Security and Defence Council has decided to support the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw Ukraine from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 18 September 1997,’ the document says.
Thus, Zelenskyy enacted the decision of the National Security and Defence Council to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention.
According to Kostenko, this is a step that has long been demanded by the reality of war. "Russia is not a party to this Convention and is using mines extensively against our military and civilians. We cannot remain bound by conditions when the enemy has no restrictions. We are now awaiting consideration of the issue in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The legislative consolidation of this decision should finally restore Ukraine's right to effectively defend its territory," he wrote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that Ukraine found itself in an unfair situation due to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, known as the Ottawa Convention.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasises that Ukraine ratified this convention in 2005 and has since faithfully complied with its provisions. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation, not being a party to the Ottawa Convention, launched armed aggression against Ukraine and has been widely using anti-personnel mines as a method of warfare since 2014.
Thus, Ukraine finds itself in an unequal and unfair situation that limits its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled that Russia's aggression against Ukraine forced Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Finland to reconsider their position and adopt a joint political decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Lithuania and Estonia have formally notified the United Nations of their decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, the 1997 international treaty banning the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.