Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 56, April 2001

Russia Again Appeals for Help over CW Destruction

On April 11, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov repeated the request of his government for assistance in eliminating its chemical weapons (CW) stockpile. Visiting the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, Ivanov conceded that Russia faced "serious difficulties" in its quest to comply with the stockpile destruction schedule specified by Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). If the schedule is met, Russia will destroy 20% of its 40,000-ton stockpile by April 2002, with 100% elimination set for 2007. However, the first specified deadline - destruction of 1% of the stockpile by April 2000 - has already been missed and readjusted to 2002, in recognition of the obviously negligible prospect of Russia being able to destroy a fifth of its stockpile by that date.

The total cost of the elimination programme is currently estimated at $8-$10 billion; the Russian Federal budget for 2001 allocates $40 million to the task (see Disarmament Diplomacy No. 54 for more details). In Ivanov's overall assessment, provided to reporters following detailed discussions with OPCW Director General Jose Bustani:

"We plan to considerably increase the budget...but I have to tell you frankly that the acuteness of the problem in funding Russia's chemical weapon destruction is still present...[and that] Russia continues to have difficulty destroying [its stocks] in strict compliance with the Convention... We believe this issue requires joint steps involving Russia...but also other state parties...and the world community at large... I'm convinced that with joint efforts we will be able to achieve our final goal - ridding humanity of chemical weapons."

On March 14, the Russian Duma held a frank debate on the issue. Deputies heard from Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Berdennikov, who cautioned that "despite objective reasons, inability to destroy CW in compliance with [the] approved schedule may become a pretext for political and economic pressure on our country" and that "our non-compliance with international commitments under the CWC may be used to discredit [the] general vigorous policy of Russia." Berdennikov noted that commitments of financial contributions to the CW elimination programme from other countries so far amounted to only 7% of estimated total costs.

Reports: The Duma and Arms Control, PIR Center (Moscow) Monthly Bulletin, March 2001; Russia seeks aid to destroy weapons, Associated Press, April 11; Russia pleads for aid to scrap chemical weapons, Reuters, April 11.