Moscow Wants Out Of Nuclear Dismantling Program

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland

The United States says that it is still talking to Russia about future cooperation in a decades-old joint program to dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland responded to reports that Moscow wants to end cooperation under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

The multibillion-dollar effort, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, was started after the end of the Cold War to help an economically struggling, post-Soviet Russia deal with its stockpiles of unconventional weapons across the former Soviet Union.

More than 7,500 nuclear warheads have been deactivated, and fissile materials have been secured.

Based on reporting by dpa and Reuters