Russia to Postpone Destruction of Chemical WeaponsRussia will delay the elimination of its chemical weapons arsenal till 2012, five years later than a previous planned deadline of 2007, the Russian Ammunition Agency said in a report Wednesday.Russia will not be able to destroy its all chemical weapons, an arsenal of 40,000 tons of poisonous gases, before 2012, the agency said in the report that will be present to Thursday's cabinet meeting for approval. The country had undertaken to do so before 2007 in line with an international convention banning the development, production and storage of chemical weapons and providing for their destruction. At the first stage, Russia was to destroy 400 tons of chemical weapons, or 1 percent of the arsenal, but could not do so because of a shortage of funds, Interfax news agency quoted an agency official as saying. As there are no enough plants for destroying that kind of weapon, the 2007 deadline will not be met either, he said. |
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