Russia destroys 90 percent of its chemical weapons

Russia has scrapped 90 percent of its warfare agents, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. The treaty obliges 191 states to destroy all their chemical weapons and prohibits the production of new ones.

Colonel general Valery Kapashin, the army official responsible for storing and disposing of the weapons, says Russia has destroyed more poisonous substances than any other member of the convention.

“As of July 13, Russia has destroyed 35.9 million of the 39.9 million tons of its chemical weapons, a 90 percent reduction,” said Kapashin.

When the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in April 1997 it was signed by 65 nations. As of July 2015, it has 191 members. Syria was the most recent to sign, in 2013.

Israel has signed the convention, but not ratified it. Angola, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan have not signed it.

Russia and the USA originally agreed to complete the destruction by April 2012. However, these deadlines were later extended. America has set itself a new target date of 2023.