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Ukraine has officially made its first moves from the Ottawa Convention banning the use of landmines, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signing a decree to leave the treaty.
The 1997 Ottawa Convention outlaws the use, production, retention, storage, indirect or direct transfer of anti-personnel landmines.
The treaty is designed to limit the long-term indiscriminate impact of unrecorded landmines against civilians after a conflict has ended.
Landmines have been used extensively in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and it’s understood that the agreement effectively impedes the national defence of Ukraine against Russian forces, who are not a signatory to the treaty. Other notable absentees from the treaty include the United States, China, India, Israel and Pakistan.
“(I hereby decree) … to put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine dated June 29, 2025, on Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Ottawa convention,” President Zelenskyy said regarding the treaty.
“Russia has never been a party to this convention and uses anti-personnel mines extremely cynically.
“Not only now, in the war against Ukraine. This is the signature style of Russian killers; to destroy life by all methods at their disposal.”
The decree to leave the Ottawa Convention must also be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament and communicated to the United Nations before going into effect.
Allegations from the Ukraine–Russian conflict have detailed Russia’s possible use of anti-personnel landmines to “booby-trap” fallen soldiers.
President Zelenskyy has alleged that Russian forces have also used chemical weapons during the conflict, potentially violating the 1925 Geneva Protocol.
