VILNIUS
Lithuania quits cluster bomb ban treaty
Candles and flowers displayed on a fence to mark the third-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in front of the Ukraine Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
Lithuania on Thursday quit an international convention banning cluster bombs, citing security concerns over neighboring Russia in a move that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
The formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic state of 2.8 million people has also signaled its intention to leave another international treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel land mines.
NATO member Lithuania has said it wants to strengthen its defenses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fearing it could be next if Moscow succeeds.
The Lithuanian parliament voted to leave the cluster munitions convention last July, but the country had to wait six months after submitting exit documents to the U.N. for the decision to take full effect.
It is the first country to leave the convention, which was adopted in 2008, and the first European Union country to leave a multilateral arms regulation agreement.
Russia and Ukraine are not members of the convention and have both used cluster bombs in their three-year-long war.
"Russia uses all the instruments available in a conventional war, and this shows that we need to take action to ensure effective deterrence and defense," Lithuania's Deputy Defense Minister Karolis Aleksa told AFP this week.
"Withdrawing from the convention gives us the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of our defense against large-area targets," he said.