Ottawa Convention’s secretariat views transfer of antipersonnel mines to Kiev as violation

Receipt of a prohibited weapon would be a direct violation of the treaty by a State Party, the convention’s Secretariat said Kiev’s receipt and use of antipersonnel landmines will be a direct violation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention), the convention’s Secretariat said.

“Receipt of a prohibited weapon would be a direct violation of the treaty by a State Party,” the organization said in a statement.

“All States that have joined have accepted to be bound by these conditions – no exceptions.”The Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel landmines, has been signed by 164 nations including Ukraine since it came into force in 1999.

On November 20, the Pentagon confirmed to TASS that the US administration had authorized the transfer of anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine.

The Department of Defense clarified that these were non-persistent mines, which become inert after a preset period of time, thus mitigating risks to civilians.

On November 21, the Department suggested the possibility of new deliveries of anti-personnel landmines to the Kiev regime.Earlier,

The Washington Post reported that Biden authorized the delivery of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, reversing his administration’s earlier policy that banned the transfer and use of US antipersonnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula.

Commenting on this information, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Kiev is a signatory to the UN convention banning anti-personnel landmines.