Cooperation with US to Bring Russia 3 years Closer to Dismantling Its Chemical Weapons

The U.S. approval of a new dismantling scheme proposed by Russia may bring the latter at least three years closer to dismantling its nuclear stockpiles, Director General of the Russian Agency for Ammunition Zinovy Pak said at a press conference on Tuesday.

On March 14, 2003, Russia and the United States signed another amendment launching a new scheme to dismantle the remaining chemical weapons and their components in Russia, he reminded.

In order to optimise the dismantling process, Russia proposed to stop transporting the remaining chemical components to the existing dismantling plants or those under construction and start detoxifying poisonous substances at current storage sites, Pak said.

The Director General of the Russian Agency for Ammunition praised the agreement reached last June at the G-8 summit in Kananaskis within the framework of the Global Partnership Project. Under the agreement, the G-8 countries are to pay Russia $20 billion towards dismantling its ex-Soviet arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Countries outside the Group of Eight will also have a chance to participate in dismantling Russia's chemical stockpiles, Zinovy Pak pointed out. Italy and Canada have already come up with projects, he added.