Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday signed a decree putting his war-torn country on track to leave the anti-landmine Ottawa Convention, according to a document published on his website.

The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling, or using anti-personnel mines, which are designed to be buried or hidden on the ground.

They often leave victims mutilated if they are not immediately killed, and aid groups denounce the long-term risk of unexploded mines for civilians.

More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, though neither the United States nor Russia have joined.

“I hereby decree… to put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine dated June 29, 2025 on Ukraine’s withdrawal” from the landmark convention, Zelensky said.

To enter into force, the decision still must be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament and notified to the United Nations.

Confronted with Russia’s invasion, “Ukraine is compelled to give unconditional priority to the security of its citizens and the defense of the state,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the decision to withdraw was “difficult but necessary” in order to “protect our land from occupation, and our people from horrific Russian atrocities.”

“This step has been demanded by the reality of war long ago,” a Ukrainian lawmaker, Roman Kostenko, said on social media.

“Russia… uses mines against our military and civilians on a massive scale. We cannot remain bound by conditions when the enemy has no restrictions,” he said.

The treaty withdrawal, more than three years into Moscow’s invasion, follows similar decisions by Kyiv’s allies Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – all neighbors of Russia.

In March, human rights groups condemned their intention to pull out from the convention.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, a step that follows the Baltic nations and Poland’s move to boost their defense as the war rages on in Ukraine.

The 1997 treaty, joined by over 160 countries, bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines in efforts to protect civilians from the scattered explosives that could still injure them long after the conflict is over.

“Russia is not a party to this Convention and is massively using mines against our military and civilians,” lawmaker Roman Kostenko, secretary of the parliament’s defense committee, said in a post on Facebook.

Earlier in March, the Baltic states and Poland announced their intention to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, a significant shift in defense policy that shows how countries near Ukraine are preparing for a potential war in Europe.

Anti-personnel mines are scattered across the battlefield in Ukraine, with soldiers and civilians often losing their feet or limbs due to detonations. Territories liberated by Ukraine since 2022 have been heavily covered with mines, making it extremely difficult and dangerous to clear them. Russia has used more than a dozen variants of anti-personnel mines since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Human Rights Watch’s June report.

In a surprise move that angered Moscow, the Biden administration in 2024 approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. Then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it was to help Ukraine stall the Russian advances in the east as the front-line situation deteriorated.

“This is a step that the reality of war has long demanded,” Kostenko said in the Facebook post announcing a significant move forward in withdrawing from the major mine treaty.

Now that Zelensky signed the decree, which has not been officially published yet, enacting the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, it will land on the parliament’s table, Kostenko said. The dates when the decision will take effect are still unclear.