Lithuania quits cluster bomb ban treaty citing security concerns over Russia

Lithuania has quit an international convention banning cluster bombs, citing security concerns over neighbouring Russia in a move that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.

The Baltic state of 2.8 million people has also signalled its intention to leave another international treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel land mines, Caliber.Az reports, citing Western media outlets.

NATO member Lithuania has said it wants to strengthen its defences following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fearing it could be next if Moscow succeeds.

But Amnesty International has called the decision "disastrous" and Human Rights Watch said it was "alarming", with both organisations warning that it could put civilian lives at risk.

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 UN 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 defence," Lithuania's Deputy Defence Minister Karolis Aleksa told AFP this week.

"Withdrawing from the convention gives us the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of our defence against large-area targets," he said.

The convention has 112 state parties and 12 other signatories, and prohibits the use, transfer, production and stockpiling of cluster bombs.

Cluster munitions can be dropped from aircraft or fired from artillery, exploding mid-air and scattering bomblets over a wide area.

"The most effective deterrence and defence is when you have them in your possession and know how to use them," Aleksa said.

By Khagan Isayev