MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian-French cooperation in chemical weapons destruction is constructive and business- line, Director General of the Russian Ammunition Agency Viktor Kholstov and French embassy officials said on Friday.
Kholstov and the embassy officials met in Moscow on Friday to address prospects of future cooperation in chemical weapons destruction, the agency's press service told Interfax-Military News Agency. "Kholstov said that Russia and French are developing business-like and constructive cooperation at all levels in chemical disarmament," it said.
The agency chief believes that it is necessary to consider and approve the projects of France's participation in the implementation of the Russian chemical weapons destruction program on the level of experts and specialists, as well as to arrange current and future planning of project funding in order to launch design works as soon as possible and subsequently start accomplishing the mission to destroy war gases efficiently. "This point of view was made known to the French party at the meeting," the press service said.
According to it, the date for the next meeting of Russian and French experts coordinating chemical weapons destruction projects that France plans to take part in was fixed by Kholstov and the embassy officials.
Under the accords reached at the Kananaskis summit in June 2002, France is to spend EUR750m over the next 10 years on chemical weapons destruction in the framework of the Global Partnership program. Allocation of a part of that sum for projects in Russia is under consideration at the moment.