ANOTHER international human rights law was duly ignored today, when Washington announced that it would allow Ukraine to use US-supplied landmines, a decision that drew condemnation from a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Laos, where he was attending a meeting with his south-east Asian counterparts, that Ukraine needed to use the indiscriminate weapons in order to help slow Russian troops from advancing further west.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) condemned Washington’s decision and reminded President Joe Biden administration that the weapons were banned by most countries by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty due to their devastating impact on civilians.

The US and Russia never signed up to the 1997 convention, but Ukraine — now one of the most mined countries on Earth following Russia’s brutal invasion — did.

In 2022, Mr Biden did commit to a US ban on the use of mines, except on the Korean peninsula.

“The US must respect its own policy prohibiting landmine transfers,” the ICBL said today.

“As the world’s largest donor to mine clearance, spending millions annually to protect civilians, it’s inconceivable the US would facilitate laying new mines.
 
“Ukraine has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty since 2022. ICBL urges Ukrainian officials to demonstrate this commitment by refusing this transfer. International humanitarian law cannot be set aside during conflict.
 
“Ukraine already faces years of demining due to Russian landmine use. Adding to this contamination would impact its own population for decades to come.”

When questioned on the legality of the US policy shift, Mr Austin said: “The landmines that we would look to provide them would be landmines that are not persistent, you know.

“We can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it far safer eventually than the things that [the Ukrainians are] creating on their own.”

The ICBL countered this, saying that international law bans the use of “all anti-personnel mines, even those with ‘self-destruct’ mechanisms,” warning: “These are not 100 per cent failsafe and still require dangerous, costly demining operations.”
   
The organisation strongly urged the US administration to reverse its decision, insisting: “The protection of civilians cannot be compromised, even in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”

Meanwhile, life on Earth was pushed closer to nuclear Armageddon today when Ukraine reportedly fired British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russian territory.

The action follows President Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Tuesday that Russian had lower its threshold for using nuclear weapons after Mr Biden allowed Ukraine to fire US-supplied long-range missiles into the country on Sunday.

The US, Italy and Greece closed their embassies in Kiev today after the US delegation said it had received warning of a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital.