Printer Friendly Page

On the Signing of an Agreement with Canada on Cooperation in the Destruction of
Chemical Weapons, the Disposition of Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines and the
Accounting, Control and Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Substances
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Daily News Bulletin
June 9, 2004

On June 9, in the framework of the first personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on the eve of the Group of Eight Summit at Sea Island, USA, a Russian-Canadian intergovernmental agreement was signed on cooperation in the destruction of chemical weapons, the disposition of decommissioned nuclear submarines, and the accounting, control and physical protection of nuclear materials and radioactive substances. Ottawa is planning to allocate up to 1 billion Canadian dollars for the realization of the Global Partnership initiative. Canada stood at the sources of, and supported this initiative, which is being carried out in accordance with the agreement of the G8 leaders, reached by them at Kananaskis, Canada, in June 2002.

The agreement provides a legal basis for the launching of full-format cooperation in the Global Partnership priority areas of destroying chemical weapons and disposing of nuclear submarines. This new accord between Moscow and Canada is one more step in the development and strengthening of Russian-Canadian interstate relations, as provided by the Treaty on Concord and Cooperation, concluded by our countries in 1992.

It is borne in mind that in the course of the implementation of the agreement Canada will take part in the construction of a plant for the destruction of chemical weapons at Shchuchye, Kurgan Region, and in the disposition of nuclear submarines at ship-repair facilities in the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Regions.

It will be possible to start work there without loss of time. Russian specialists from the federal agencies for atomic energy and industry carried out beforehand with the Canadian partners the thorough preparation of the specific projects.

The scope of the tasks to be tackled calls for high dynamics of interaction at all stages, for which the Russian side is ready and expects that already next year it will be possible to demonstrate the first practical results of Russian-Canadian cooperation in the Global Partnership implementation.