Finland's lawmakers vote to leave land mine treaty as Nordic country boosts defenses against Russia

Finland 's parliament voted overwhelmingly to pull out of a major international treaty on antipersonnel land mines Thursday as the Nordic country seeks to boost its defenses against an increasingly assertive Russia next door.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border with Russia and joined NATO in 2023. Finland says land mines could be used to defend its vast and rugged terrain in the event of an attack. Finnish lawmakers voted 157-18 to move forward on a government proposal to leave the Ottawa Convention.
The Nordics and Baltics have been sounding the alarm on a potential Russian incursion since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Analysts say Ukraine is among the countries that are the most affected by land mines and discarded explosives, as a result of Russia's ongoing war.
The Ottawa Convention was signed in 1997, and went into force in 1999. Nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it, including some key current and past producers and users of land mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Russia.
In a report released last year by Landmine Monitor, the international watchdog said land mines were still actively being used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea.
In the Baltics, lawmakers in Latvia and Lithuania earlier this year voted to exit the treaty.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said civilians will pay the price if more countries leave the treaty.
'The global consensus that once made anti-personnel mines a symbol of inhumanity is starting to fracture,' Spoljaric said in a news release earlier this week. 'This is not just a legal retreat on paper—it risks endangering countless lives and reversing decades of hard-fought humanitarian progress.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Reuters

34 minutes ago

• Reuters

Head of Russia's Rosneft says OPEC+ could speed up oil output hikes by a year

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 21 (Reuters) - OPEC+ group of leading global oil producers could bring forward its output hikes by around a year from the initial plan, Igor Sechin, head of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft ( opens new tab, said on Saturday. He also said that the decision by the OPEC+ to speed up output increase now looked far-sighted and justified in the light of the confrontation between Israel and Iran. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia, shocked oil markets in April by agreeing a bigger-than-expected output hike for May despite weak prices and slowing demand. OPEC+ has since decided to continue with more than planned hikes. "The announced increase in production since May of this year is three times higher than the alliance's initial plan. In addition, the entire increase in OPEC+ production could be shifted a year ahead of plan," he said without elaborating. "The decision taken by OPEC leaders to forcefully increase production looks very far-sighted today and, from the market's point of view, justified, taking into account the interests of consumers in light of the uncertainty regarding the scale of the Iran-Israel conflict," he added. OPEC+ crude output represents about 41% of global oil production. The group's main objective is to regulate the supply of oil to the global market. Having spent years curbing production, eight OPEC+ countries made a modest output increase in April before tripling it for May, June and now July. Besides the 2.2 million bpd cut that the eight members started to unwind in April, OPEC+ has two other layers of cuts that are expected to remain in place until the end of 2026. Oil prices had initially fallen in response to the OPEC+ decision to increase oil production, but the outbreak of an aerial war between Israel and Iran has so far been the main factor behind their return to around $75 per barrel, levels unseen since the start of the year. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sechin, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also said there will be no oil glut long-term despite the production rise due to low stockpile levels, though rising usage of electric vehicles in China might hit oil demand. Putin said on Friday he shared OPEC's assessment that demand for oil will remain high. He also said that oil prices had not risen significantly due to the conflict between Iran and Israel, and that there was no need for OPEC+ to intervene in oil markets. Sechin also said Rosneft had already budgeted the oil price of $45 per barrel for this year, the level the European Union eyes as the new price cap on Russian oil imports, which is now set at $60. ($1 = 0.8679 euros)

Reuters

2 hours ago

• Reuters

Putin says Russia has told Israel there's no evidence Iran wants nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia reports

MOSCOW, June 21 (Reuters) - Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia on Saturday quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in an interview. "Russia, as well as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), has never had any evidence that Iran is preparing to obtain nuclear weapons, as we have repeatedly put the Israeli leadership on notice," Sky News Arabia quoted Putin as saying. Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear programme, Putin was quoted as saying, adding that Iran has the right to do so. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin said Russia was sharing its ideas on how to stop the bloodshed in the Iran-Israel conflict with both sides. He did not give details of those ideas.

Telegraph

2 hours ago

• Telegraph

Kyiv mayor tells Trump: Come and see my bombed-out city

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, has invited Donald Trump to visit the Ukrainian capital to witness for himself the destructive toll of non-stop Russian bombardment. In an interview with The Telegraph, the former world heavyweight champion boxer said he used to be a tour guide and would be 'very happy' to return to the role for the US president. Besides the city's historical treasures, he 'will be presenting the buildings where civilians have been killed, children killed' in an effort to secure further defensive weapons for Ukraine. The day before meeting The Telegraph in his office in city hall, Russia launched one of its largest bombardments on the capital, firing around 300 drones and seven ballistic and cruise missiles on June 11. On Tuesday, 30 people were killed in a nine-hour-long attack on the city that included a Russian drone flying straight into a residential block, obliterating the building and trapping dozens under the rubble. What was a fairly intermittent threat to one of Europe's largest capitals has become a constant, harrowing bombardment, with residents spending hours each night in shelters as air defences rattle off gunfire to bring down swarms of whining Shaheds. Vladimir Putin can now fire over 4,000 drones at Ukraine per month, a tenfold increase compared to this time last year, following massive investment in manufacturing. 'We need more support,' says Mr Klitschko, leaning his 6ft 7in frame forward across the boardroom table. 'Because more and more drones are coming from the Russian Federation.' Kyiv is one of Ukraine's best-protected cities, using both Patriot air-defence batteries and a network of mobile gun-teams that chase after drones in pick-up trucks. But the sheer volume of attacks means more slip through. Russia's engineers have 'modernised' the Shahed kamikaze drone with their domestically produced variant known as the Geran, says Mr Klitschko. 'They are already much faster. They fly much higher. And sometimes it's very difficult to identify the drones,' he says. The latest Gerans can piggy-back on Ukrainian internet and mobile network systems, making it much harder to detect and spoof them with electronic warfare countermeasures. 'You question why [we need] the United States,' the mayor says. 'Right now we need the defensive weapons, because we are defending our territorial integrity and our independence. 'My first job, many, many, many years ago, before I started my sports club era, was working as a tour guide in my home town. And I will be very happy to make an excursion for Trump.' Getting the attention of the White House is a challenge, one made all the more difficult by the launch of Israel's war against Iran and its nuclear programme. Some 20,000 anti-drone missiles destined for Ukraine were recently transferred to the Middle East. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, announced that from next year the US will no longer purchase new arms for Ukraine. Mr Trump often appears ringside at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hugging and posing for pictures with the blood-slicked winners. Could Mr Klitschko, who was known as Dr Ironfist in the ring, appeal to him this way? 'We actually fought in Taj Mahal Palace,' says the mayor, referring to a 2002 bout against Ray Mercer at the president's now-closed casino resort in Atlantic City. The fight, like 45 of his 47, ended in victory for Mr Klitschko, during a period of almost total dominance of the heavyweight division, alongside his brother, Vladimir. 'Trump was in the first row, I guess,' he says. 'And we have good discussion, good communication. I hope it's very soon I have a chance to talk personally to Trump and give him lots of arguments.' In the June 8 barrage, a headquarters of the US defence giant Boeing was struck, along with a building used to process British visas until late last year. 'It is not possible to keep representatives from any country safe,' Mr Klitschko says. Flags, drone parts and a traditional Ukrainian mace adorn the mayor's office. Asked for his favourite memento, Mr Klitschko walks behind his desk and pulls out a photograph of his son, Maxim, as a seven-year-old boy. Then he shows a picture on his phone of himself standing by the side of a much taller man. This is Maxim at 7ft 5in , fully grown and, at the age of 20, a professional basketball player with AS Monaco. 'He makes us look small,' says Mr Klitschko with a smile. 'We hope he will join the NBA.' In Ukraine, debate rages over whether to lower the age of conscription, from 25 to 18, amid growing shortages of manpower. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, has resisted US pressure in favour of a reduction. Cautiously, Mr Klitschko opens a gap between himself and the commander-in-chief. 'If you go to the street and see, from 10 workers, you see seven women and three men,' he says. 'And in other cities the number of men is much smaller.' 'The age of mobilisation is not our responsibility, it's a decision of government, but we have right now a huge deficit of human resources, and, if possible, pretty soon, the central government can make this decision.' Does he think it would be right? Mr Klitschko says 'if we don't have another source' of men it may 'have to be', emphasising each word percussively. For years, Mr Klitschko and Mr Zelensky have been at each other's throats. When he was a comedian, the president played a 'translator' to the mayor in one long-running skit, turning Mr Klitschko's incomprehensible blithering and raspberries – played by an actor – into full sentences. The president appeared to recall the sketch when, in February, he responded to Mr Klitschko's suggestion that Ukraine might temporarily exchange the four regions occupied by Russia for peace. 'I know he's a great athlete,' Mr Zelensky said. 'But I didn't know he was a great speaker.' In the president's eyes, Mr Klitschko has allowed corruption to flourish, doing little to stem the 'Kyiv system' of kickbacks, elite contractors and backroom deals. The national anti-corruption bureau has recently arrested a string of the mayor's subordinates in city hall, with many cases focused on the sale of land permits. To Mr Klitschko, the president is an authoritarian intent on edging him out of power as he fears a rival with international clout. He accuses the president of undermining mayors from opposition parties and replacing them with allies under the guise of separate military administrations, such as that established in Kyiv. In the last couple of years, he says, the prosecutor's office has 'opened 1,500 criminal cases' against his administration. 'Maybe you can take [from this], that the prosecutor's office, police is working pretty well.' But opening criminal cases is 'very, very easy. How many go to court? Just eight'. The focus on corruption is because the 'whole media is in one hand' he claims and 'because a lot of politicians make a huge mistake... preparing for an election' after the war is over. 'Kyiv is one of the largest cities not just in Ukraine but also in Eastern Europe,' he says, adding that Mr Zelensky wants to 'control Kyiv [and] I'm not a member of the president's party'. Critics in the president's office would reply that Mr Klitschko is himself not immune to political manoeuvring. Ending the interview, the former boxer pokes his head back through the door to apologise for his English. 'I don't get much opportunity to practice any more,' says the one-time Los Angeles resident, now never dressed in anything but khaki. Then he is gone, with battles to be fought on all fronts.