40 countries vow landmine help to Ukraine

Dozens of countries pledged support for clearing mines in Ukraine, which has become the world's most mined nation.

LAUSANNE:

Dozens of countries committed Thursday to help clear war-torn Ukraine of massive amounts of mines and explosives, which contaminate nearly a quarter of its territory.

During a two-day conference in Switzerland, more than 40 countries backed the Lausanne Call for Action, committing to concrete actions towards humanitarian demining in Ukraine, the organisers said.

"Ukraine has become the most mined country in the world," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the conference.

He said that since Russia's February 2022 invasion "about a quarter" of Ukraine had become covered with mines and unexploded bombs.

"The scale of this challenge is truly massive," he said.

"We are talking about an area of approximately 140,000 square kilometres -- nearly three times of size of Switzerland."