COUNTRIES EXITING
All European countries bordering Russia have announced plans to quit the global treaty, apart from Norway, which has only a 200km border with Russia in its remote Arctic far north, and said it was important to maintain stigma around landmines.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday (Jun 29) that he had signed a decree to pull Ukraine out of the Convention because Russia has used anti-personnel mines extensively in parts of Ukraine during the 40-month-old war.
Anti-personnel mines, Zelenskyy said, are “often the instrument for which nothing can be substituted for defence purposes”.
Some European countries have said they fear that Russia could use any pause in fighting to re-arm and target them.
Officials have suggested a withdrawal could put them on more of an equal footing with Russia, which has not signed or ratified the treaty. Other major powers that have not signed include the United States and China.
In mid-June, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres raised grave concerns about recent withdrawal announcements and urged all states to adhere to existing treaties and immediately halt any steps towards their withdrawal.
