Poland sees the anti-personnel landmines as a key aspect of its deterrence against Russian aggression. Stock image: Getty

Poland has decided to start producing anti-personnel mines for the first time since the Cold War and plans to deploy them along its eastern border and may export them to Ukraine, the deputy defence minister told Reuters.

Joining a broader regional shift that has seen almost all European countries bordering Russia, with the exception of Norway, announce plans to quit the global treaty banning such weapons, Poland wants to use anti-personnel mines to beef up its borders with Belarus and Russia.

“We are interested in large quantities as soon as possible,” deputy defence minister Pawel Zalewski told Reuters.

The mines would be part of the “East Shield”, a defensive programme aimed at fortifying Poland’s borders with Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, he said.

Asked whether production of mines could begin next year, once the withdrawal process from the Ottawa Convention was completed, Mr Zalewski said: “I would very much like that.”

Our starting point is our own needs. But for us Ukraine is absolutely a priority

Poland began the process of withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention in August. Mr Zalewski’s comments are the first confirmation from Warsaw that it will go ahead with the move.

According to the Landmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor, Poland told the UN in 1995 that it had abandoned production of anti-personnel mines in the mid-1980s.

Belma, the state-owned company that already supplies the Polish army with several other types of mines, said Poland would be equipped with millions of mines to secure its 800km eastern border.

“We are preparing for Polish demand… to amount to five to six million mines of all types,” Belma’s CEO Jaroslaw Zakrzewski told Reuters.

He added that, while the defence ministry has not placed an order yet, the company would be able to produce up to 1.2 million mines of all types, including anti-personnel mines, next year. Belma currently produces about 100,000 mines a year.

The minister said supplying mines to Ukraine would depend on production capacity.

“Our starting point is our own needs. But for us Ukraine is absolutely a priority because the European and Polish security line is on the Russia-Ukraine front,” Mr Zalewski said.