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USA afraid of nuclear responsibility

Publish date: March 16, 2004

The USA still has not signed the paragraph concerning responsibility for the possible damage during aid programs.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign policy committee of the Lower House of the Russian parliament, told recently RBC Daily about that. The CTR program allocated $6.5 billion in total to secure weapons of mass destruction since 1992. The USA still has not signed the paragraph regarding responsibility for technogenic accidents in Russia due to the possible US fault during implementation of such programs as Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) and the Multi-Lateral Environmental Protect in the Russian Federation agreement (MNEPR).

It is stated in the MNEPR agreement that deliberate damage caused by an individual during implementation of this program stipulates certain responsibility. According to Kosachev, this principle is civilised and used in international relations. Almost all countries signed it. The USA, however, does not like this principle and they insist on the rules used since 1992 in the CTR program, when the US responsibility was not determined. Both programs are extremely profitable for Russia, as it does not have resources to eliminate excessive nuclear and chemical weapons itself. ”If we do not find a legal solution, we might not get this money” Konstantin Kosachev added.