The United States broadly supports the international ban on landmines

Washington Despite the international ban on landmines, then US President Donald Trump allowed the US military to use dangerous weapons around the world again in 2020. The Biden government is now working on the opposite. The United States essentially takes the same position on landmines as it has since 2014 under Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama. The White House has now said the goal is to prepare for “eventually” accession to the international treaty to combat landmines.

More than 160 countries, including Germany, agreed to ban landmines in the treaty named after the Canadian capital, Ottawa, because they often remain in place long after hostilities have ended. Thousands of civilians are injured, maimed, or killed every year by exploding mines. The victims are often children playing outside and stepping on a mine there. Important countries such as the United States of America, Russia, China and India have not signed the 1997 treaty.

Antipersonnel mines are inexpensive to produce and easy to conceal; On the other hand, their evacuation is very dangerous, long and expensive. Countries particularly affected by landmines from previous conflicts include Afghanistan, Yemen, Angola, Cambodia, Laos, and Iraq.

On the Korean Peninsula, on the other hand, it is used, among other things, along the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea. “The security of our ally, South Korea, will remain of the utmost importance,” the White House said.

Recently, the US Army delivered Claymore M18A1 mines to Ukraine. According to the US Department of Defense, the Ottawa Treaty allows the use of Claymore mines because they are usually laid in a controlled manner and operated by remote detonation.