Russia will complete the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpiles by the end of December 2017, that is one year ahead of schedule, stated the head of the country’s Federal Department for Safe Storage and Destruction of Chemical Weapons, Colonel-General Valery Kapashin.
“We will complete the destruction of our chemical weapons stockpiles in December [2017] ... The decision has been made,” said Kapashin.
Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in December 1997. At that time, the Russian Federation declared that it was in possession of 40,000 tons of chemical weapons. The country began destroying its chemical weapons stockpiles in December 2002 as part of a federal target program. In 2016, 2.7 billion rubles (approximately $42.9 million) were allocated to this program.
At the end of May 2016, Kapashin said that Russia has only 6.5 percent of its chemical weapons remaining and up for destruction.
According to the obligations undertaken by Russia as a signatory of the Chemical Weapons Conventions, the country is required to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles by 2020.