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U.S. Clinton, Russia's Lavrov to sign deal on excess plutonium

© RIA Novosti . Eduard Pesov / Go to the mediabankRussian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - Sputnik International
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The U.S. secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister will sign on Tuesday a deal on eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium, the U.S. Department of State said.

The U.S. secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister will sign on Tuesday a deal on eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium, the U.S. Department of State said.

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will sign and offer remarks on the recently concluded protocol to amend the United States-Russian 2000 agreement, on eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium from defense programs," the U.S. Department of State said in a statement.

Last week in Prague U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new strategic arms reduction treaty. It still has to be ratified by the Russian parliament and the U.S. Congress.

"This signing represents a major and essential step toward enabling full implementation of our two countries' obligation to safely and transparently dispose of such excess weapon-grade plutonium, enough material for several thousand nuclear weapons," the statement said.

"The signing also signifies our commitment to making arms reductions irreversible and to reducing the danger of this material ever falling into the hands of terrorists," the statement added.

The two countries, which possess about 90% of global arsenals of nuclear weapons, agreed in Prague to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550 on each side and the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles to 800 on each side.

 

WASHINGTON, April 13 (RIA Novosti)

 

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