Russian Federation
Ambassador Leonid A. Skotnikov
Russia has an estimated stockpile of 60_70 million antipersonnel landmines, although in 2002 Russian officials announced it had destroyed 16.8 million stockpile mines over the previous six years. Russia has acknowledged using mines in the ongoing conflicts in Chechnya and Tajikistan. Leonid A. Skotnikov is the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is excerpted from Ambassador Skotnikov’s address to the Fourth Annual Conference of the States Parties to the Amended Landmine Protocol in Geneva, on December 11, 2002.Every time we meet to discuss the issues of…
