The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has evidence that Ukraine has repeatedly used landmines that injured civilians, so its recently announced resignation from the Ottawan Convention will have no impact on the battlefield situation. This was stated on Tuesday by spokeswoman for the resort Marija Zacharov, writes TASR, according to Reuters report.
In June, Ukraine announced a resignation from the Convention, which prohibits the use, storage, production and transfers of anti -mines. It justified its decision as a necessary step in terms of Russia’s procedures during the war, which was unleashed on 24 February 2022 by invasion of Ukraine. Moscow, which is not a contracting party of the Convention, blames Kiev that he is using these mines to a large extent.
A reaction of a Russian spokeswoman
Zacharova told reporters that the Russian authorities regularly record the use of Mines Ukraine, and noted that, according to the Ottawan Convention, the resignation should not come into effect before the armed conflict ended.
The Russian diplomat also accused Kiev of not fulfilling the obligations arising from the Convention even before this decision and was obliged to destroy all supplies of the anti -free mines in 2010, but allegedly did not.
Withdrawal of other states
“The decision of Ukraine to step out of this mechanism … Fits the general course of the collective West and its satellites to revise and undermine the international legal system in the field of weapon control, disarmament and non -development of weapons,” said the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition to Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Estonia also plan to resign from the Ottawa Convention. In recent months, Lithuania and Finland, which are being planned from next year – after the six -month period – have already done their own production of anti -defense mines in order to supply themselves and Ukraine. They justify this step by a military threat by Russia.
The reverberations of the Convention
Moscow rejects the claim that it will attack NATO Member State, as “Russophobic nonsense” that spread European countries in an effort to persuade their population to accept increasing defense spending, Reuters wrote.
The 1997 Convention has ratified or more than 160 countries. Frontal mines often mutilate victims that do not die immediately, and threaten civilians long after the end of conflicts. Their use is therefore condemned by human rights groups.
