Ten years ago in Mozambique, representatives from numerous nations gathered with a shared mission: to eliminate one of warfare’s most devastating remnants. Buoyed by a breakthrough agreement prohibiting landmine use, production, and hoarding, they boldly set a target to finish the job by 2025.

Now, with that deadline upon us, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Five European NATO countries bordering Russia have declared plans to exit the treaty. They justify the decision by referencing growing security threats from President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Human rights advocates have decried the announcements, warning of a dangerous precedent. They argue that reintroducing landmines risks dismantling broader humanitarian commitments long upheld by the international community.

Jody Williams, a leading figure behind the global effort to outlaw landmines, had an emotional reaction to the news.

“It makes me want to scream,” said the 74-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner in an interview with the Guardian. “It’s unfathomable. Landmines don’t thwart invasions or shift the outcomes of war. They just maim or kill your own population. It's incomprehensible.”

Williams joined the anti-landmine movement in the 1990s after being introduced to Bobby Muller, a Vietnam veteran and peace advocate. Together, they launched the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which now brings together roughly 1,300 organizations across 90 countries.

When governments resisted amending current weapons treaties, Williams and the ICBL began advocating for an entirely new one. That effort culminated in the Ottawa Treaty of 1997 – now one of the most widely adopted arms agreements globally, signed by more than 160 nations.

The same year, Williams and the ICBL received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of this pivotal achievement in shielding civilians from wartime atrocities. The treaty had a tangible impact, lowering annual landmine casualties from over 25,000 to under 4,000, eliminating over 55 million stored mines, and reducing landmine production to only a handful of states.

Nonetheless, some of the world’s most influential powers refused to join. “We couldn’t do it through the United Nations – any single country could block progress,” Williams recalls, referencing a lack of support from permanent UN Security Council members such as the US, China, and Russia.

Like many global weapons treaties, the Ottawa agreement allows states to withdraw. To Williams, this loophole undermines the original humanitarian rationale for the accord.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “If a nation agreed that banning landmines was necessary, it shouldn’t later turn around and wreak havoc by reintroducing them.”

She shared her thoughts from her Vermont residence, just weeks after the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland issued a joint statement outlining their decision to leave the treaty.

“The military threat to NATO neighbors of Russia and Belarus has grown significantly,” they wrote. “With this choice, we’re making it clear: we are ready and willing to employ every means necessary to safeguard our security.”

Finland soon declared its intent to follow suit. Its prime minister, Petteri Orpo, stated that the withdrawal was essential to help Finland adapt to a shifting security environment with greater flexibility.

Russia, notably absent from the treaty's signatories, has relied heavily on landmines since the outset of its full-scale conflict with Ukraine, rendering Ukraine one of the most highly mined regions in the world.

Williams acknowledges the fears driving these nations’ decisions. “It’s not irrational to be afraid. Under ideal conditions, landmine defenses might seem logical,” she allowed. “But in reality, they don’t prevent combat. They only result in long-term chaos that harms civilians.”

Statistics reinforce her views. Civilians account for 70% to 85% of landmine injuries and deaths globally, and nearly 40% of those victims are children.

To Williams, these recent withdrawals signal a broader unraveling of protections laid down to shield non-combatants from war’s horrors.

“This is a decisive point in time,” she said. “Backing away from the landmine ban affects how we perceive the rules of warfare – and one key aim of those rules is safeguarding innocent lives during conflict.”

Shortly before the interviews, Williams had returned from visiting Jerusalem and the West Bank, where she met with women engaged in resisting violence amid what she described as a “genocide.” After returning home, she learned that Donald Trump had cut Pentagon efforts aimed at preventing civilian harm during military operations.

“All of it together feels like part of a larger shift,” she reflected. “It’s chipping away at the idea that the laws of war serve a crucial purpose.”