Zelenskyi Approves Suspension of the Ottawa Convention for Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyi has signed a document suspending the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines for Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine expressed gratitude to MPs for supporting this decision.

On July 15, the Parliament adopted a decision to suspend the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Convention.

299 MPs supported the decision.

The Convention entered into force on March 1, 1999. Ukraine signed the Convention in February 1999 in New York. Verkhovna Rada ratified the treaty on May 18, 2005.

The document prohibits the use and storage of anti-personnel mines and obliges states to destroy existing stockpiles.

At the time of ratification, Ukraine had one of the world’s largest stockpiles of such mines, exceeding 6 million units, including PMN, PMN-2, POM-2, and other types of mines prohibited under the Convention.

The suspension of the Convention opens up the possibility for Ukraine to legalize the use of such munitions amid a full-scale war with Russia.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi issued a decree suspending the international treaty, and the Cabinet of Ministers submitted a bill to the parliament.

The treaty was signed in 1997, and as of 2024, more than 160 states have acceded to it. Russia, the United States, and China are not parties to the convention.

Earlier, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland also began the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine forced these countries to reconsider their position and make a joint political decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention.

Also, Finland and Lithuania intend to start producing anti-personnel mines for themselves and to supply Ukraine next year due to the military threat from Russia.