The head of the Pentagon explained the decision to transfer anti-personnel mines to the AFU

TheUSA has provided Ukraine with anti-personnel mines allegedly due to changes in the tactics of the Russian Armed Forces. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said this during a news conference in Laos on November 20.

"So, you know, we provided them (Ukraine. - Ed.) anti-tank mines from the very beginning. And because of the way the fighting has developed, it's just another - another phase here. But, again, our goal is to help them, to meet their needs, and they've asked for it. And - and so I think it's a good idea to provide it to them," he was quoted as saying on the Pentagon's website.

He said the U.S. side had discussed with Kiev how they could potentially use the weapons.

However, when asked directly whether anti-personnel mines would be in the new aid package to Ukraine, Austin did not answer.

"I'm not going to talk about what's in the PDA. We will provide you with an extract of that soon," the Pentagon chief said.

Earlier in the day, The Washington Post (WP) reported that the current US president authorized the supply of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine to "deter the advance of Russian troops." The publication drew attention to the fact that Biden, by allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use such weapons, contradicts his own policy. WP recalled that in 2022 he renewed the ban on the use of such mines, effectively reversing the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump.

On the same day, political analyst, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen pointed out that Biden gave the AFU permission on mines because Kiev is in a desperate position on the battlefield. The expert emphasized that this step of the American president is controversial, because anti-personnel mines pose a danger to civilians.

At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for Kiev's crimes, Rodion Miroshnik, said in a conversation with Izvestia that Kiev's use of anti-personnel mines was criminal. He pointed out that Ukraine, according to the Ottawa Treaty, had to destroy its weapons of this kind since 2009, but failed to fulfill this obligation. Miroshnyk recalled that the AFU constantly uses such mines, such as Lepestok.

Last November, Mark Hiznay of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) said that Ukraine had repeatedly violated the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines. The researcher pointed out that UNIDIR also has information about their use by Kiev in Donetsk.

Before that, at the end of October 2023, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative in Geneva Andrei Belousov also pointed to Ukraine's violation of the Ottawa Convention. He noted that the Ukrainian military was purposefully mining civilian infrastructure with PFM-1 "Lepestok" anti-personnel mines in a number of settlements and towns in Donbass.

The Ottawa Treaty, or the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, signed on December 3, 1997, prohibits the use, stockpiling, as well as the production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. More than 160 states are parties to the treaty, and Ukraine ratified it in 2005.

Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to hold it was made by the Russian president because of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.