Today we are making history: USA Ambassador R.Hoagland

17:56, 30 March 2010

ALMATY. March 30. KAZINFORM /Aigul Turysbekova/ "Kazakhstan and the United States have worked together with great success for nearly two decades to secure and eliminate all forms of weapons of mass destruction. In recognition of this historic partnership, Presidents Obama and Nazarbayev will meet in Washington on April 12 during the Nuclear Security Summit", USA Ambassador Richard Hoagland has said today at the ground-breaking ceremony for Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty.

According to him, at the end of next week in Prague, the United States and the Russian Federation are expected to sign the post-start agreement. "It will further limit their nuclear warheads and delivery systems with stronger verification regimes, bringing the world one significant step closer all weapons-of-mass-destruction materials secured by 2012", the Diplomat said. He noted that the signing of the Agreement is important for the whole world including Kazakhstan. "What we are doing today - Kazakhstanis and Americans together - is an important element of that historic effort", R.Hoagland said.

As the Ambassador noted, soon after the independence of Kazakhstan, U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn recognized the enormous danger to the security of future generations posed by the remnants of the Soviet nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs, many of which existed on the territory of Kazakhstan. "With historic foresight, these two U.S. senators convinced the U.S. government and the tax-payers of the United States to fund programs to clean up and secure the remnants of these programs. They found a willing partner in independent Kazakhstan", R.Hoagland said.

"Today we are making history", the U.S. Ambassador concluded.

Diplomacy News Integration Kazinform's Timeline Regions Economy