Russia is ready to contribute some $2 million to the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria, an unidentified Russian diplomat said.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed Thursday that the government of the war-torn country met the Nov. 1 deadline for "the functional destruction of critical equipment at all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities."
The ambitious Russia-U.S.-brokered deal to avert foreign military intervention in Syria envisions the complete elimination of Syrian arsenals of chemical weapons by mid-2014.
Syrian stockpiles could be destroyed in Albania, the diplomat told Kommersant. In addition to a $2-million donation, Russia is willing to provide transport for delivery of Syrian chemical weapons to Albania, he said.
Russia's contribution to the destruction of Syrian chemical arsenals will most likely be on the agenda of talks between Special Coordinator of the UN-OPCW mission in Syria, Sigrid Kaag, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Moscow on Friday.
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