US reports destroying its last chemical weapons stockpile
US President Joe Biden has issued a statement, revealing that the US has destroyed its last stockpile of chemical weapons, as per the White House website.
“[By doing so, the US is] bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons. This accomplishment not only makes good on our long-standing commitment under the Chemical Weapons Convention, it marks the first time an international body has verified destruction of an entire category of declared weapons of mass destruction,” the statement reads.
The US joined the Convention over 30 years ago. Joe Biden’s statement also mentioned that “Russia and Syria should return to compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and admit their undeclared programs, which have been used to commit brazen atrocities and attacks.”
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction was adopted in Paris in 1993. The document has been active since 1997.
All 193 Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons member countries, including Russia and Ukraine, are signatories of the Convention.
The Organisation expressed its concern in April 2022 amid reports of Russia using chemical weapons in Mariupol.
