US view and reasons

Russian infantry led the advance: US Secretary of Defense Austin said that Russia’s tactics on the battlefield have changed, and its ground forces’ advance is more dominated by infantry rather than armored vehicles. This has led to Ukraine’s need for more effective defense measures when facing the Russian infantry advance, and anti-personnel mines are believed to help the Ukrainian army slow down the Russian army’s advance.

Ukrainian army’s defense needs: The Ukrainian army is relatively disadvantaged in terms of the number of personnel and equipment. Facing the Russian attack, it needs to use defensive weapons such as mines to enhance the stability of the defense line to make up for its own lack of strength and buy time and space for the Ukrainian army’s defense and counterattack.

Controversy points of this statement

Humanitarian considerations: Anti-personnel mines have been widely criticized by the international community for their indiscriminate harm to civilians and long-term residual dangers after the end of the conflict. Even though the United States claims to provide “non-persistent” mines, arms control experts and human rights organizations still warn that there are safety risks, and the cleaning work is complicated. It may not be reliably ineffective, and it may still cause a large number of innocent civilian casualties.

Risk of conflict escalation: The United States’ move to provide anti-personnel mines to Ukraine may increase the tension of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and further escalate the confrontation between the two sides. This runs counter to the international community’s general call for resolving disputes through dialogue and negotiation. It may also trigger a tougher response from Russia, leading to the expansion and prolongation of the conflict.

Violation of the spirit of international conventions: Although neither the United States nor Russia has joined the Ottawa Convention, Ukraine is one of the signatories of the convention. The United States’ act of providing anti-personnel mines to Ukraine is considered to be a violation of the spirit of this international convention and undermines the efforts made by the international community to ban anti-personnel mines.

Consideration of the United States’ own interests: Some people believe that the United States’ decision is not only based on Ukraine’s battlefield needs, but may also involve the United States’ own political, military and geopolitical interests. For example, by providing more military aid to Ukraine, the United States can further contain Russia and maintain its influence in Europe, and it may also be intended to exert greater influence on the direction of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict before the upcoming transfer of power in the US president.