Russia says it will destroy all 44,000 tonnes of its chemical weapons by
2012. This is five years later than required by the chemical weapons treaty, but
treaty officials welcomed the plan after fears that a lack of funds could halt
weapons destruction. Russia, which has the world’s biggest stockpile, hopes the
US will resume funding the programme, which it stopped doing two years ago. A
decision is expected in Washington soon. Meanwhile, officials in Moscow denied
allegations by environmental activists that an additional 22,000 tonnes of
undeclared chemical weapons lurk in forgotten dumps scattered across Russia.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
3
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
4
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
5
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
6
I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing
7
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
8
You should turn off fans when it's too hot – but how hot is too hot?
9
The 17 best popular science books of 2026 so far
10
Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion



