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Ban anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions
The Washington Post reports that President Biden has quietly approved the provision of new anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, adding to his earlier authorization of cluster munitions and another type of anti-personnel mine. These actions blatantly violate the Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, which 164 countries have ratified—though neither the U.S. nor Russia is among them. g The International Campaign to Ban Landmines recently released its annual report, revealing over 5,700 deaths and injuries from landmines worldwide last year—an increase of 1,000 from 2022. The campaign’s director strongly condemned the use of these "vile weapons" under any circumstances and called on all nations to join the Mine Ban Treaty to end the suffering they cause.