Lugar Concerned About U.S. Follow-Through on Russian CW Destruction

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) yesterday expressed concern about the United States honoring its commitment to help build a major chemical weapons destruction facility in Russia through the U.S. Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

Funding has lagged, he said, because “some members of Congress were not in favor of any of the money being involved with chemical weapons.”

“They see nuclear weapons as the real threat, chemical weapons as a bridge too far,” he said.

Lugar spoke at a press conference yesterday after a meeting with representatives from seven other countries and the European Union that are contributing to construction of a destruction facility at Shchuchye to discuss the status of the project and their funding commitments.

Though not explicitly, the meeting also was intended to demonstrate the importance other countries attach to the project with the hope of encouraging strong congressional support this year, a participant said afterward.

“It’s important for the United States to see confirmation that there is common interest abroad in supporting this project, that we are all on the same line,” said Benedict de Cerjat, the deputy chief of mission for the Embassy of Switzerland.

In attendance were representatives from Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The United States has promised to contribute $540 million, of the estimated $1 billion needed to build the Shchuchye facility, through its threat reduction programs. So far less than $100 million of that has been spent, Lugar said. The goal for beginning destruction activity is in 2005.

Russia has pledged to spend $2 billion on chemical weapons destruction and nuclear submarine dismantlement.

The other parties have committed at least $64 million specifically to the Shchuchye effort, Lugar said.

“It is the primarily the Russians and the United States. Other [countries] will contribute with smaller amounts, but smaller amounts may be also important, because it shows there is a general commitment,” said Cerjat.

The Shchuchye project is a major one for the threat reduction program, which receives approximately $430 million a year from Congress for securing nuclear, chemical, biological and missile weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union. Approximately $500 million more is spent annually by the Energy and State departments largely to deal with Russian nuclear weapon materials.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) in particular has criticized spending threat reduction money on non-nuclear projects. Hunter’s committee authorizes threat reduction funding on the House side.

Lugar said legislators are growing in appreciation for the potential dangers of chemical weapons proliferation.

“All of us have been going to school, the educational curve has been substantial and so in due course we have seen the dangers of chemical weapons,” he said.

“This is something that takes time, fortunately we’ve had some time,” he said.

The Russian facility currently stores more than 2 million artillery rounds and warheads filled with the nerve agents sarin, soman and VX. The weapons must be destroyed to fulfill Russia’s obligation to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“I have visited Shchuchye on two occasions and am convinced that the weapons stored there must be dismantled quickly and safely,” he said during his closed-door meeting with the representatives. His remarks were released afterward.

The Pentagon’s inspector general last month reported several risks to the effort, including that Russia may not use the facility to full capacity, that it could rescind land allocation for the facility, or that operation could be suspended or terminated because of environmental laws (see GSN, Jan. 13).

Pentagon officials have said the more extreme risks are not likely, as they could cause Russia to run far afoul of Chemical Weapons Convention schedules for eliminating the weapons.

Briefed by the Pentagon, Lugar said at the meeting the issues were being addressed.

“I was pleased to learn that the Nunn-Lugar program and our Russian partners have been working for some months to resolve the issues raised by the inspector general,” he said, referring to the original sponsors of threat reduction legislation, former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and himself.

“It is clear that our efforts to protect the United States from weapons of mass destruction entail risks, but the greater risk is to do nothing to address this clear and present danger associated with the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons arsenals of the former Soviet Union,” he said.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and Richard Lugar serves on the NTI board.  NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.]

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