Description: Ukraine’s President, Volodymir Zelenskyy announced that his country would join other countries from Eastern Europe in abandoning the Ottawa land mine treaty from 1997. The treaty is signed by 164 countries worldwide while the other 33 have refrained from joining the agreement which bans the usage of anti – personnel mines. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland have already agreed to unilaterally abandon the treaty as country officials have stated that Russia’s consistent incursions pose substantial territorial risk for the EU and NATO members. The mines are banned due to their indiscriminate targeting of individuals as most of the victims from land mines worldwide are civilians. Norway is the only country that shares a border with Russia which has officially stated it would not abandon the Ottawa treaty. The initiative sparked concerns over the usage of the mines since they remain deeply imbedded in the soil long after the end of war and pose significant risk to civilian human life.
Impact: Ukraine’s abandonment of the Ottawa treaty would further aggravate the military conditions on the battlefronts and give the war a modified dimension as both warring countries would effectively be allowed to use the mines. The initiative for abandoning the treaty comes after months of escalation, troop dispatching and military buildup on the vast 3,5 thousand kilometers border that Russia shares with several countries. The land mines can be most effectively used in halting ground advances which have largely been reported to take place this summer, following Russia’s troop amassment on the borders with the EU countries. The information could also be perceived as part of a negotiation tactic aiming at drawing the Russians closer to the negotiating table and significantly discouraging them from pushing renewed ground offensives in crucial tactical chokepoints in the upcoming months.