The Telegraph: Poland, Finland and the Baltic states may mine their borders with Russia

A number of European countries that share borders with Russia may mine these areas amid talk of Russia's possible plans for war with NATO and Europe. This was reported by The Telegraph.

These are Finland, Poland and the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia). All of them have previously announced their withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of anti-personnel mines.

It is expected that in June the countries will give an official notice of withdrawal from the United Nations. This will allow the production, stockpiling and deployment of such munitions from the end of 2025.

The total length of these countries' borders with Russia and Belarus is about 3,400 kilometers. Military planners are already calculating which areas of European forests and lakes will be mined in preparation for a possible Russian invasion.

It is noted that Lithuania's position in this context is "the most vulnerable", as it will have to defend two borders with a total length of 740 km: with Belarus in the east and Russia's Kaliningrad in the west.

"Our security situation has deteriorated significantly since we acceded [to the Convention] in 2003. Russia's illegal aggressive war against Ukraine, its systematic violations of international law and its military provocations on our borders with both Russia and Belarus pose an existential threat," said Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakalene.

• on March 19, the Polish Defense Ministry announced that Warsaw has plans to deploy anti-personnel mines on the border with Russia and Belarus as part of the Eastern Shield program. Prior to that, the country, along with the Baltic states, agreed to withdraw from the anti-personnel mine convention.
• Latvia's official withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention became known on April 24 – the president approved the relevant law.
• On June 19, the Finnish parliament supported the country's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention. The country's army will be allowed to use anti-personnel mines.