Quitting the 1997 treaty, which has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 nations, will allow Poland and the three Baltic countries to start stockpiling and using landmines again.

Defense ministers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania recommend that their countries withdraw from the international agreement banning antipersonnel mines, also known as the Ottawa Treaty.

All four countries are in the Nato alliance, and all four share borders with Russia. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic states and Poland have hugely ...

Poland and the Baltic states have taken a first ... of civilians during an armed conflict," it added. More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, including ...