Poland and the Baltic states have said they are planning to leave the Ottawa Convention, dealing a blow to the international treaty banning antipersonnel land mines.In a joint statement on Tuesday, the defense ministers of the Baltic States and Poland recommended withdrawing from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty,

In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said that since signing the Ottawa Treaty, threats from Moscow and its ally Belarus have "significantly increased". It is "paramount" to give their troops "flexibility and freedom of choice" to defend Nato's eastern flank, they said.

Against the backdrop of Russia's three-year war in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are preparing to exit the Ottawa Treaty, the landmark agreement that saw 164 countries destroy their arsenals of landmines and ban future use.