MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. The Verkhovna Rada has adopted a law on the country’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, deputy of the Ukrainian Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.
"The Verkhovna Rada has suspended the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction," he wrote on Telegram.
The Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines entered into force in 1999, with 164 nations joining it. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, mines cause many civilian casualties and continue to pose a danger for many years after the end of hostilities.
The government submitted the draft On The Suspension of The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction for Ukraine to parliament on July 11 on instructions from Vladimir Zelensky, who signed a decree on June 29 ordering the cabinet to "immediately ensure that measures are taken in accordance with the established procedure to withdraw Ukraine from the Convention."
Ukraine signed the Convention in 1999 and ratified it in 2005. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Kiev was not complying with the convention and had been using anti-personnel mines against civilians before announcing its decision to withdraw from the convention.
Earlier, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Estonia withdrew from the Ottawa Convention.