Ukraine on track to withdraw from Ottawa anti-personnel mines treaty, Zelensky decree shows
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.
Advertisement
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Latvia and Lithuania – have either withdrawn from the convention or indicated that they would do so.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.
Advertisement
'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'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
As attacks on Iran show, Russia can now do very little for its allies
The recent war between Iran and Israel has laid bare a truth long obscured by Kremlin bluster: Russia is no longer a superpower. Moscow's muted response to Tehran's plight is not an anomaly but the latest – and perhaps most telling – chapter in a pattern of strategic neglect that stretches from the Middle East to the Levant and South Caucasus. Advertisement Driven by President Vladimir Putin's neo-imperialist fantasies, Russia plunged into Ukraine to find itself in a quagmire that has bled its military, hollowed its treasury and crippled its credibility as a reliable partner. For years, Russia and Iran forged an unholy alliance, a marriage of convenience cemented by a shared animus towards the West and an appetite for defying the American-led order. The bond deepened with Iran's supplying of Shahed-136 drones and ballistic missiles – tools of terror that rained destruction on Ukrainian cities, enabling Putin's savage campaign to grind on. In January, both sides solemnised their pact with a 20-year strategic partnership agreement , trumpeting a united front against Western hegemony. Trade between the two countries, both heavily sanctioned by the West, grew by 16 per cent to US$4.8 billion last year. Energy agreements have bound their fates even more tightly. When Iran was exposed as a paper tiger by Israel, Moscow was expected to leap to its defence. Instead, Putin presented himself as a neutral mediator, offering to help broker a peace deal Advertisement
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Ukraine on track to withdraw from Ottawa anti-personnel mines treaty, Zelensky decree shows
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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'.
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Russia launches biggest aerial attack since start of the war, Ukraine says
Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the three-year-old war. Advertisement Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine , including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, probably having been electronically jammed. The onslaught was 'the most massive air strike' on the country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles, Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine's air force, told Associated Press. The attack targeted several regions, including western Ukraine, far from the front line. Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the country's air force said. Three people were killed in each of the drone strikes in the Kherson, Kharkiv and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the three governors. Advertisement Another person was killed by an air strike in Kostyantynivka, local officials said. In addition to aerial attacks, a man died when Russian troops shelled the city of Kherson, and the body of a 70-year-old woman was found under the rubble of a nine-storey building hit by Russian shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region.
