President Boris Yeltsin on Thursday signed a global ban on chemical weapons, clearing the way for Russia's destruction of 44,000 tons of chemical weapons - the world's largest chemical arsenal.
Moscow's assent was considered essential for the Chemical Weapons Convention to succeed. Russia was among 165 countries that signed the ban in 1993, but until recently parliament had been reluctant to ratify it.The Chemical Weapons Convention bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons. More than 100 nations have ratified it. But several countries hostile to the West, such as Iraq, Syria, Libya and North Korea, have not signed the treaty, raising some questions about its overall effectiveness.
Yeltsin had long supported the ban and at his urging, parliament's lower house approved it last week. The upper house, or Federation Council, ratified it unanimously Wednesday.
Joining the ban will bring in foreign aid for destroying Russia's aging and increasingly unstable chemical weapons. The cash-strapped government needs foreign help to carry out the project.
Russian officials expect foreign money to cover about $1 billion of the estimated $6 billion cost of destroying some 44,000 tons of chemical weapons.
The Russian government also promised to earmark more money for the weapons' destruction: $86 million next year, up from the $13 million envisioned in the budget.