MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has declared Russia's adherence to its nuclear disarmament obligations.
"As for Russia, we are strictly complying with all of our nuclear disarmament obligations," Ryabkov said at the Moscow conference "Fifty Years since the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Opens for Signature: Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects."
In furtherance of Article 6 of the NPT, over the past 30 years, Russia "has made an invaluable contribution to the advancement towards a nuclear-free world by reducing its nuclear potential by 85%," Ryabkov said.
"We have reduced the number of non-strategic nuclear weapons by 75%, have shifted those weapons to the non-deployed category, and have stored them at central storage facilities within the national borders," he said.
The approach to nuclear disarmament should not be emotional amid the ongoing global turmoil, Ryabkov said.
"We call for a sober and realistic attitude to the task of nuclear disarmament. This process is too serious, extremely complicated, and exceptionally sensitive for allowing instances of emotion," Ryabkov said.