The State Duma has denounced the agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States on the disposal of plutonium.

Deputies of the State Duma (State Duma) at the plenary session decided to denounce (terminate) the intergovernmental agreement with the United States concerning the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium, which is no longer used for defense purposes. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the State Duma on October 8.

"At the plenary session, the State Duma adopted a bill to denounce the agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America on the disposal of plutonium, declared as no longer necessary for defense purposes, its handling and cooperation in this area, as well as a number of protocols to this agreement," the statement said.

As Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov told Izvestia correspondent Igor Baldin, plutonium is very expensive to produce, is "one of the main strategic materials" and "Russia's historical advantage."

He added that this also applies to everything related to space and the latest developments in the nuclear industry.

The Communist Party leader stressed that the Rosatom state Corporation is currently working on 22 nuclear power plants under construction, while there are 28 such plants in the world. According to Zyuganov, this indicates that Russia is in demand, and without plutonium, the industry's tasks are "difficult to solve."

"Here we need to defend our strategic interests more decisively and consistently," he concluded.

Nuclear synergy: Russia, China and Iran may discuss nuclear issues again

Russia is also ready to help Tehran in its agreements with the United States.

On July 31, the Russian government submitted to the State Duma a draft law on denouncing the agreement with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. It is noted that this agreement was signed in Moscow and Washington in 2000. It provides for the disposal by each side of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, declared surplus for military programs. In 2016, the agreement was suspended by a decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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