The Verkhovna Rada supported the suspension of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Production and Use of Anti-Personnel Mines for Ukraine.
This was written by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, an MP from “Voice”.
299 deputies voted for this decision.
According to the decision, the Convention is suspended for Ukraine until the Russian Federationʼs armed aggression against Ukraine is completely stopped.
The Ottawa Convention was adopted on December 3, 1997, and entered into force on March 1, 1999. Ukraine ratified it on December 27, 2005, becoming a state party on June 1, 2006. At the time of signing, Ukraine had the fifth largest arsenal of anti-personnel mines in the world, behind only China, Russia, the United States, and Pakistan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained the withdrawal from the Convention by saying that it limited Ukraineʼs right to self-defense.
The department recalled that the Russian Federation is not a party to the Ottawa Convention and has been widely using anti-personnel mines as a method of warfare since 2014. And since 2022, Russiaʼs massive use of such weapons has created an asymmetric advantage for the aggressor.
- Earlier, decisions to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention were already made in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In Poland, the Sejm voted in favor of this.
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