The Russian Federation has never been a party to the Ottawa Convention and uses anti-personnel mines extremely cynically. In particular, not only now, in the war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video address.
— Today I signed a decree that puts into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine regarding the Ottawa Convention — this is the convention banning anti-personnel mines. Russia has never been a party to this convention and uses anti-personnel mines extremely cynically. And not only now, in the war against Ukraine, — the head of state said.
He stressed that this is the signature style of Russian killers – to destroy life by all available methods.
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– Chemical weapons, ballistics, in particular medium-range missiles, as well as various types of mines, including anti-personnel mines. Unfortunately, this is so. Of course, we see how our neighbors in Europe react to this threat. We also know the difficulties of the withdrawal procedure, when it is carried out in war conditions, – the head of state added.
Zelensky on Ukraine's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention
As the President noted, Ukraine is taking this political step and thus sending a signal to all our partners on what to focus on.
“This concerns all countries that are on the perimeter of Russian borders. Anti-personnel mines are a tool that very often has no alternative for defense,” he added.
In addition, Zelensky reported that our institutions have begun to implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to synchronize European and Ukrainian sanctions. The 13th and 14th packages of EU sanctions have been fully synchronized – these will now also be 100% Ukrainian sanctions.
