Russia On Track For Weapons Destruction

Russia says it is on track to destroy all its stockpiles of chemical weapons by 2012 and meet its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international treaty. "As of November 26, the Russian Federation has completed the destruction of 17,998.205 metric tons, or 45.03% of its chemical weapon stockpiles," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said in a statement. The ministry said Russia is committed to destroying its entire declared arsenal of almost 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons by the convention deadline of April 29, 2012. Russia signed CWC, which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical agents, in 1993 and ratified the pact in 1997. By April 2007, Russia had destroyed 20% of its chemical weapons and was required to bring the figure up to 45% by the end of 2009. In 2002, Western nations pledged financial and technological aid to help Russia destroy or convert its chemical weapons and production facilities. The U.S. has contributed more than $1 billion to the effort.