Ukraine will train Syrian demining specialists and share its technology, including drone-based mine detection. An intergovernmental agreement on mine action was signed in Damascus on 20 September, Syria’s state news agency SANA and Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy and Environment reported.
It was signed by Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment, who was on an official visit to Damascus, and Mounir Mustafa, Syria’s Deputy Minister for Emergency and Disaster Management (SANA describes him as director of the Syrian Civil Defence).
What the agreement covers
The two sides will cooperate on clearing war-affected land and returning it to productive use. Ukraine will train Syrian specialists in non-technical survey, demining, quality management and other humanitarian demining roles. The agreement also covers information management systems and methods for deciding which areas to clear first.
According to SANA, the agreement links Syria’s National Mine Action Center with Ukraine’s Humanitarian Demining Center. The first pilot projects are to start in Idlib and Aleppo provinces in northern Syria, with Ukrainian specialists working on the ground. No start date has been announced.
“It is very important for Ukraine to share its mine action experience with countries that, like us, have suffered contamination,” Bezkaravainyi said. Drones for remote mine detection and mapping of affected areas help speed up clearance, he added. The Syrian side stressed that Ukraine’s experience matters for agricultural recovery and food security.
The Ukrainian delegation also visited sites currently being cleared by Syrian deminers.
From food to demining
Talks on demining began in 2025 at the fourth Food from Ukraine international food security summit, attended by Syria’s emergency management minister Raed al-Saleh and agriculture minister Amjad Badr. Ukraine’s government authorised the signing of the agreement by Order No. 685-r of 13 July 2026, the Ministry of Economy reported.
The demining deal is the second step in bilateral ties within a month: in early September, Syria’s Ministry of Economy set up a Syrian-Ukrainian Business Council.
Background
Ukraine itself is among the most heavily mined countries in the world. Over two years of the state humanitarian demining programme, operators have cleared more than 20,000 hectares, and the Humanitarian Demining Center has signed 175 contracts covering almost 34,000 hectares, Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy reported.
