Russia says no to another ‘Nunn-Lugar’ US-funded disarmament effort

Senators Nunn and Lugar leave the White House in 1991 after briefing President George H. W. Bush on the Nunn–Lugar legislation

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press

MOSCOW—Russia said Wednesday it had no intention to automatically extend a 20-year old deal with the United States helping secure the nation’s nuclear stockpiles, a move that comes amid a growing isolationist streak in Kremlin policy.

Under the 1992 program initiated by Sens. Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in equipment and know-how to help Russia and its ex-Soviet neighbors deal with Soviet nuclear legacy.

Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction
Programs: Issues for Congress
Updated March 23, 2001

The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program provided reinforced rail cars to carry nuclear warheads, high-tech security systems for storage sites and helped pay for the dismantling of mothballed nuclear submarines and other weapons. It played a major role in preventing the deadly weapons from falling into the wrong hands while the Russian government was facing a severe money crunch amid an economic meltdown and political turmoil that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION 
THE NUNN-LUGAR/CTR EXPANSION ACT: 
AUTHORIZATION FOR NUNN-LUGAR TO BE USED OUTSIDE THE STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION 
SENATOR RICHARD G. LUGAR 
MARCH 18, 2002

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it wouldn’t accept a U.S. offer to extend the deal that expires in 2013 without a major overhaul.

“American partners know that their proposal doesn’t correspond to our ideas about what forms and what foundation we need to develop further cooperation,” it said in a statement. “For that, we need, in particular, a different and more modern legal framework.”

While the ministry wouldn’t elaborate further on the motives behind Moscow’s decision, or spell out its demands, representatives of Russia’s top military brass have long complained that the Nunn-Lugar program gives the U.S. too much access and information about the nation’s military technologies and weapons sites.  Read more at  The Denver Post

On Saturday November 11, 2011 IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs hosted the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Senator Richard Lugar spoke at the event along with Defense Threat Reduction Agency director Kenny Myers. Professor John Karaagac moderated the event. The senator also visited with IU students after the event.

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