PARIS. Sept 19 (Interfax-AVN) - "France's preparedness to directly finance the Russian program for eliminating chemical weapons was an absolute surprise for the Russian delegation," Chairman of the Russian State Commission for the Elimination of Chemical Weapons Sergei Kiriyenko has told Interfax.
Having visited Tokyo, London and Rome, Kiriyenko has arrived in Paris to present the Russian program for eliminating this type of weapon.
"When we raised the question of financial aid during talks with the French prime minister [Lionel Jospin], we did not particularly hope for consent to finance Russia directly," he said, adding that France is already financing this program indirectly through the European Union.
"But when we acquainted the French prime minister with the program, he agreed to finance it directly and instructed experts to study the issue in detail," Kiriyenko said.
In Kiriyenko's opinion, this attests to France's readiness for concrete joint action at a new stage in international relations.
He said that Britain had agreed to allocate USD18m and Italy USD7m to the Russian program for eliminating chemical weapons.