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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