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Russian MPs appeal for resumption of US funding for chemical disarmament
Interfax-AVN

Moscow, 27 November: The defence and international affairs committees of the State Duma have drafted an appeal of the house to the US Congress concerning expansion of cooperation in the chemical disarmament sphere.

"The appeal had to be drafted because in 1999 the US Congress stopped the financing of the Russian chemical weapons destruction programme that relies heavily on declared foreign aid," deputy chairman of the defence committee, Maj-Gen Nikolay Bezborodov, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday [27 November].

Russia has met all the US claims that caused suspension of the funding, he said. Russia has increased budget funding of the chemical weapons destruction programme nearly 10 times, destroyed ammunition of categories one and two ahead of schedule and completed preparation for launching the first chemical weapons destruction facility in Gornyy, Saratov Region, the lawmaker explained.

"However, Russia will not be able to meet its obligations without declared foreign aid," he stressed.

"We informed the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about it two months ago. Now we address the US Congress for relaunch of funding," Bezborodov said.

According to him, the United States can be compared with an acid test that shows the sentiments of Russia's foreign partners. "If the USA starts funding, all other countries will follow," the lawmaker stressed.

The document calls upon the US Congress to expand cooperation in the chemical disarmament sphere, and in particular, to renew the Nunn-Lugar programme of building chemical weapons destruction facilities.

Follows the list of countries and organizations that have declared readiness to provide funds for the Russian chemical disarmament programme: Great Britain (over 17m dollars), Germany (over 30m dollars), the European Union (about 14m dollars), Italy (nearly 7m dollars), Canada (5m dollars), the Netherlands (10m dollars), Norway (about 1m dollars), the United States (nearly 900m dollars), Switzerland (up to 30m dollars), Sweden (450,000 dollars) and Finland (about 1m dollars).

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