NEW YORK (AFP): A global anti-landmine group on Wednesday slammed a “terrible” decision by the United States to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel landmines to shore up its defenses against Russian forces.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) “condemns this terrible decision by the US,” it said in a statement to AFP.
“The US Campaign to Ban Landmines and all the ICBL will be working to get the US to reverse it.”
Ukraine “must clearly state they cannot and will not accept these weapons,” it said.
The US decision comes as President Joe Biden works to boost Ukraine’s war effort in the final two months of his administration, before Ukraine aid critic Donald Trump takes power in January.
Late Tuesday, a US official said Washington has sought commitments from Ukraine to use the mines in its own territory and only in areas that are not populated in order to decrease the risk they pose to civilians.
The mines are known as being “non-persistent” because they go inert after a set period of time, when their battery power runs out.
On Sunday, Biden gave Ukraine the green light to fire US-supplied long-range missiles into Russian territory for the first time.
