Russia to Call at G-8 Summit for Increased Commitment to Nonproliferation Effort, Russian Expert Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to call on the other leaders of the Group of Eight global economic powers next week to strengthen their commitment to an initiative launched in 2002 to fund nonproliferation projects, a Russian analyst said yesterday (see GSN, April 27).

In 2002, the G-8 launched the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Under the effort, the G-8 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — agreed to pledge $20 billion over 10 years, primarily for projects in Russia. To date, however, only a small portion of the pledged funding has gone to actual nonproliferation work within Russia, said Daniil Kobyakov of the PIR Center in Moscow. He also said that a large portion of the funding has gone to foreign rather than Russian subcontractors and that there is a lack of proper auditing for the projects.

The G-8 summit begins Monday on Sea Island, Ga. (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press, June 2).

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