REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRÉTIEN
ANNOUNCING CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE G8 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AGAINST THE SPREAD
OF WEAPONS AND MATERIALS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
May 30, 2003
St. Petersburg, Russia
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here with you today to announce
an important step forward in making the world safer and more secure.
Last June in Kananaskis, Alberta, Russia, Canada and other G-8 members showed
their commitment to peace and security through the creation of the Global
Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. We
created this partnership out of necessity. It is one of the ways the G-8 is
responding to the very dangerous – and very real – threat of terrorism
involving weapons of mass destruction.
At the G-8 Summit last June, we agreed we must work as partners to stop
terrorists. We know terrorist groups are prepared to use any and all means
available to harm innocent people and inflict mass casualties. The attack on the
Moscow theatre and recent bombings in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Chechnya and
elsewhere have reinforced this disturbing trend.
The Global Partnership is about keeping potential weapons out of the wrong
hands. It is about eliminating the dangerous legacy of the Cold War. With a
commitment of up to $20 billion U.S., the G-8 has agreed to undertake projects,
starting in Russia, to destroy chemical weapons, dismantle nuclear submarines,
and dispose of fissile material. We also aim to put former weapon scientists
here in Russia to work doing peaceful research.
More than ten years after the end of the Cold War, Russia remains a
repository for vast quantities of weapons and materials of mass destruction.
Last year in Kananaskis, the G8 agreed it was our joint responsibility to act --
to ensure these dangerous materials remain forever beyond the reach of
terrorists. We have already achieved a great deal. Under the committed
leadership of President Putin, Russia has significantly increased its financial
contribution to the Global Partnership, and moved our joint work forward on many
fronts.
Canada, for its part, will commit up to $1 billion Canadian dollars to the
Global Partnership over the next ten years. Since Kananaskis, we have been
working with Russia and other G8 partners to develop projects.
I am very pleased to announce today that Canada will be helping Russia
destroy its stockpile of approximately 40,000 metric tonnes of chemical weapons.
We will be funding construction projects at the Shchuch'ye chemical weapons site
where up to two million artillery shells, filled with nerve agents will be
destroyed.
We will also be contributing to the Northern Dimension Environmental
Partnership, a multilateral program managed by the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, which will safely and securely manage the spent
nuclear fuel and radioactive waste generated by Russia's northern submarine
fleet.
Russia has over a hundred nuclear powered vessels taken out of active service
in the North, many of which still contain nuclear fuel. We will work with Russia
and other partners to address the security and environmental threats posed by
the fuel in the vessels. Canada is also prepared to fund the dismantlement of
three submarines taken from the Northern Fleet, beginning next year. We will
join our partners in Russia to expand on programs which aim to dispose of 34
tonnes of weapon-grade plutonium. Together, we will diminish the threat of
nuclear weapons and use the fuel to generate electricity to improve the quality
of everyday life in Russia.
Throughout the former Soviet Union we will enhance the security of nuclear
material through the International Atomic Energy Agency. Finally, Canada will be
joining the International Science and Technology Centre in Moscow to put the
skills of former weapons scientists to peaceful use. We will cooperate in a
number of areas involving research and development. Our efforts will be for
peace – to prevent the proliferation of weapons expertise.
The Global Partnership is an initiative that creates opportunity and hope
where there was has been the darkness and shadow of nuclear threats and
international terrorism. We remain committed to combatting terrorism together.
Through the G8 Global Partnership we are taking real action against a real
danger. Our efforts and our expertise will make the world safer and more secure.
We are walking together toward a safer and more peaceful future for our children
and grandchildren.
Thank you very much.
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