Russia suspends plutonium disposal accord with U.S.

摘要

Citing "unfriendly actions" by the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 3 signed a decree to suspend the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, a post-Cold War deal between the two countries that is widely considered a landmark in international nuclear nonprolifer-ation cooperation. The agreement, originally signed in 2000 by Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and updated in 2010 with signatures from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, requires each nation to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium from decommissioned nuclear warheads.