HELSINKI, December 16. . Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said he would not propose withdrawing from the Ottawa Agreement banning the use of anti-personnel mines.

“If the Defense Forces don't think it will benefit them much, then I will focus on what will benefit them,” Pevkur told reporters on the sidelines of the Forces meeting Joint Expedition (JEF) on Monday in Tallinn. Quotes are provided by the Finnish STT agency.

Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, Andrus Merilo, said that he also did not see a need to withdraw from the Ottawa Agreement. “We recognize that there are different options that were not included in the Ottawa Agreement,” Merilo said. There are other weapons that could be used to defend Estonia without reverting to old-fashioned anti-personnel mines.”

In 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer and Destruction of Anti-Personnel Mines (Ottawa Convention) was adopted. This document entered into force on March 1, 1999. Its participants are 164 countries. Several countries remain outside the treaty, many of which retain mine production rights. These are Vietnam, India, Iran, China, North Korea, Cuba, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, USA and South Korea.