MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty will hopefully be ratified soon by both the United States and Russia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the press in Moscow on Thursday.
There is a consensus and understanding in both countries that the treaty promotes international security, as well as the interests of the two countries, he said.
Ivanov said that U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and he had discussed earlier in the day the outlook for ratifying the treaty. "We also exchanged views on setting up a mechanism for implementing the G-8 decision signed in Kananaskis, Canada, that USD20bn should be appropriated over 10 years for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction," he said.
U.S. President George W. Bush supports the treaty, Lugar said.
The treaty is of key importance for relations between Russia and the United States and for world stability and peace, Lugar said. It will promote friendly relations between the two countries and their intent to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, he said.
Lugar, a co-author of the Nunn-Lugar program for aiding Russia in eliminating weapons of mass destruction, said the program is well underway, and that numerous Russian military installations, in particular biological and chemical laboratories, had warmly welcomed him.