The Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws attention to the fact that due to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling and Production of Anti-Personnel Mines, also known as the "Ottawa Convention", Ukraine is deprived of the right to just self-defense.
Points of attention
- Several European allies of Ukraine, including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Finland, have also withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention due to Russia's aggressive tactics.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes the importance of this decision in securing Ukraine as a sovereign, independent, and free state amidst ongoing conflicts.
Why is it important for Ukraine to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention?
What is important to understand is that the aggressor country Russia is not a party to the Ottawa Convention.
It has been waging war against Ukraine for 11 years and actively uses anti-personnel mines as a method of warfare. This is what has created an asymmetric advantage for the enemy.
Ukraine ratified the Convention in 2005 and at that time could not have predicted that events would develop in this way.
Therefore, given the unconditional priority of defending our state from harsh Russian aggression, our land from occupation, and our people from terrible Russian atrocities, Ukraine has made a difficult but necessary political decision to suspend the implementation of irrelevant obligations under the Ottawa Convention. We are convinced that this step is necessary and appropriate to the level of threats, because it is about the survival and preservation of Ukraine as a sovereign, independent and free state, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It is also worth noting that Russia's aggression has already forced Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Finland to also withdraw from the Ottawa Convention.
