OPCW Director-General Visits the Russian Federation, Meets Foreign Minister Lavrov and Tours the Kambarka Destruction Facility

From 14 to 17 June 2005, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), paid an official visit to the Russian Federation and met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr S.V. Lavrov.

Foreign Minister Lavrov, in his meeting with Director-General Pfirter, reaffirmed the Russian Federation’s unwavering support for the Organisation and extended his Government’s assurance of continuing and effective cooperation with the Organisation and its leadership. He also reiterated his Government’s firm resolve to achieve the aims of the Chemical Weapons Convention, including those related to the elimination of the Russian Federation’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles and production capacity.

On behalf of the Organisation, Director-General Pfirter expressed his appreciation for the Russian Federation’s concerted effort towards total chemical demilitarisation and commended the significant investment made by the Russian Federation to ensure that these chemical weapons stockpiles and production capacity can be entirely eliminated in accordance with the Convention. The Director-General reaffirmed the need to enhance and continue the support provided by the international community to the Russian Federation’s effort to achieve total chemical demilitarisation.

Director-General Pfirter stressed that the Convention represented the only disarmament regime which is daily eliminating weapons of mass destruction around the world under international verification, an achievement which can be credited to the ever stronger political will of the 169 States Parties to the Convention to ensure a chemical weapons-free world.

In their meeting, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Director-General Pfirter concurred that the Convention’s full and effective implementation by all States Parties was crucially important in the effort to prevent the spread of chemical weapons, and in particular, to address the threat of chemical terrorism. Both agreed that the success of multilateralism must be ensured, noting the example that the CWC and the OPCW are setting in this regard.

In the course of his official visit, Director-General Pfirter also held meetings with H.E. Mr S.V. Kirienko, Head of the State Commission for Chemical Disarmament; H.E. Mr S.I. Kisliak, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; and H.E. Mr V.I. Kholstov, Deputy Director General of the Federal Industry Agency.

Mr Kirienko reaffirmed that the Russian Federation was actively engaged in ensuring the complete and verifiable elimination of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles and the inactivated, former chemical weapons production capacity.

Mr Kholstov provided Director-General Pfirter a detailed overview of the continuing progress towards the elimination of these stockpiles and production capacity, including the plans for the construction of additional chemical weapons destruction facilities and the conversion or destruction of former chemical weapons production facilities.

During his official visit to the Russian Federation, Director-General Pfirter also had the opportunity to tour the Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility now under construction at Kambarka in the Udmurt Republic. He received a detailed briefing on the current state of construction at the site and expressed his satisfaction with the project’s brisk pace. The Director-General could confirm that, as a result of the advances made in the construction of the site, the Russian Federation would be able to make significant progress in meeting the agreed deadlines.

25/2005

Categories: Disarmament, Eastern Europe