Denis Manturov said on Thursday that Russia has destroyed more chemical agents than any other of the 180 signees of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.
He made the statements while visiting a chemical weapons disposal facility in the Bryansk Region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus.
More than 500 inspections of Russia’s chemical weapons stockpile have been conducted since the convention came into effect, and not a single violation has been detected in this respect, the official added.
Last year, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Georgy Kalamanov said Russia planned to destroy all of its chemical weapons by 2015.
In July, a ministry official said Russia has disposed of 30 tones of “category one” chemical weapons, which make up over 75 percent of the declared stockpiles.
In July 22, Viktor Kholstov told Russia’s ITAR-TASS “We reported at the session that Russia has four active chemical weapons disposal plants.” “These are Maradykovsky, Pochep, Leonidovka, and Shchuchye. Two facilities - Kambarka and Gorny - have already disposed of all of their stockpiles.
The four abovementioned facilities are operating in accordance with the plans submitted by Russia to the OPCW and are disposing of the chemical weapons as scheduled,” he said.
Kholstov noted that the construction of the last, seventh, chemical weapons disposal plant is drawing to an end in Russia - Kizner in Udmurtia. “It will start disposing of chemical weapons in the fourth quarter of the year,” the official said.
Russia’s report on the destruction of its nuclear stockpile comes amid diplomatic spat between Moscow and Washington over Obama’s decision to cancel his upcoming visit to Moscow presumably over Russia’s granting asylum to Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency (NSA) agent but Syria is also believed to be one of the reason’s which strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
Last month, Russia blamed Syrian terrorists for applying chemical weapons against civilians in Khan al-Assal, in the northern province of Aleppo in Syria which claimed 26 lives and left scores injured.
MRKD/BA