Russia to Destroy All Its Chemical Weapons – Sergei Ivanov

BRYANSK. May 3 (Interfax) – Russia is going to destroy all its chemical weapons, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Thursday.

“Russia has signed and ratified the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. That document has also been ratified by 182 states of the world. With the convention having been signed, we are going to destroy chemical weapons as a class, and we will no longer have such weapons because it is unsafe to store chemical weapons manufactured 50 years ago,” Ivanov told reporters in Bryansk, Russia.

“Russia has pledged to destroy all its chemical weapons by 2012″ and has already scrapped 20% of them, he said.

The country has to build seven plants to destroy its chemical weapons, Ivanov said. “Three are in operation already, and there have been no complaints about them. It is likely that individual politicians will use the so-called ‘environment card’ in their election campaigns,” he said.

One plant would be built in Bryansk region in 2009, Ivanov said.

“Altogether there are 40,000 tonnes of toxic substances in Russia, of which we have already destroyed 8,000 tonnes,” he said.

“We are firmly committed to the international convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons,” Ivanov said.

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