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RF to cooperate with foreign partners in CW elimination - FM
ITAR-TASS
February 20, 2003

Russia is ready to cooperate with foreign partners to implement programmes of chemical weapons destruction, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in his meeting with Rogelio Pfirter, Director General of the OPCW Technical Secretariat on Wednesday.

Ivanov recalled that during discussions on the programme of global partnership by the G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Russian President Vladimir Putin accentuated on the chemical weapons destruction programme as the top priority.

"We are now engaged in an intensive dialogue with foreign partners, also with Americans", Ivanov said, making a reference to his recent meeting with Senator Richard Lugar. Moscow seeks to maintain constructive cooperation with the United States in this area, the Russian minister said. He said Russian also intends to develop "close cooperation" with the OPCW. Ivanov expressed the hope that the foreign partners will "appreciate the efforts taken by the Russian president and government in the matter". "Whether in Iraq we are only searching for chemical weapons, we know where to search for them and that it is necessary to eliminate them," he said.

Pfirter noted that Russia closely interacts with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on this issue.

At the same time, Ivanov said considerable progress in eliminating chemical weapons in Russia contributes to the solution of WMD non-proliferation problems and to the prevention of terrorist threats.

The elimination of chemical weapons is in the focus of Russian leaders, the minister said. Pfirter gave a high assessment to Russia's efforts aimed at implementing its chemical weapons programme and understood the existing difficulties in fulfilling obligations in this direction.

Ivanov and Pfirter also exchanged views on the realisation of the chemical weapons convention and multifaceted cooperation in this field, including within the framework of the G-8 summit in Kananaskis on global partnership. The sides discussed international problems regarding the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement transmitted to Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said Russia decided to finance a federal programme of chemical weapons destruction. Under the programme, the government will provide 160 million U.S. dollars in the first 10 years. Last December Russia took the first step in this direction - it commissioned a chemical disposal plant in Gorny, Saratov region. Then Russia is planning to commission such plants in Shchuchye, Kurgan region, and Kambarka, Republic of Udmurtia.

The rates and deadlines of chemical weapons destruction were into the focus of discussions between Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russia's State Commission for Chemical Disarmament, and Rogelio Pfirter

Kiriyenko, who is also presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District, said the sides discussed action under the chemical weapons convention.

The document is the first multilateral treaty that outlaws a whole class of mass destruction weapons and specifies the mechanisms of inspecting defence and civilian chemical industry facilities. The convention was signed by 145 countries.

Russia has destroyed 100 tonnes of mustard gas and is continuing to scrap chemical weapons in two shifts, Kiriyenko said.

He stressed said the facility in Gorny, Saratov region, is now preparing to switch to a three-shift mode.

Russia will destroy 1 percent of its 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons in the first half of the year, thus fulfilling its international obligations, Kiriyenko said.

Russia is using modern technology to eliminate chemical weapons, Pfirter said. He said Russia observes the environmental norms.

The director-general said the OPCW welcomes progress in the elimination of chemical weapons. In his words, the start of a plant in Gorny, Saratov region, is the necessary step in this direction that proves of Russia's commitment to complying with its obligations.

Commenting on the elimination of toxic agents in Russia, Pfirter said the OPCW is satisfied with the work of the plant in Gorny.

He said the OPCW has no objections regarding technology.

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