"We are on track to complete the destruction of our chemical weapons stockpile this fall, a disarmament milestone that upholds the highest standards of transparency and public safety," President Biden stressed in a statement posted on the White House website.
President Biden also emphasized: "The United States will continue to stand with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to prevent the stockpiling, production and use of chemical weapons around the world . We should all work together to encourage the remaining countries to join the Chemical Weapons Convention."
US President Joe Biden at an event in New York City on May 10.
President Biden made the announcement ahead of the United States and other Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) member states gathering for the Fifth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague, Netherlands, next week.
The signatories to the CWC, which came into force in 1997, have committed to destroying all their chemical weapons stockpiles. The US is legally obliged to do so by the end of this year. The US has committed to destroying its last remaining chemical weapons, stored in warehouses in Colorado and Kentucky, by September 30, 2023, according to RT.
Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly urged Washington to speed up the destruction of America's chemical weapons stockpile.
Russia and China issued a joint statement last month, “demanding that the US, as the only [CWC] member state that has not yet completed the destruction of its chemical weapons, eliminate its chemical weapons stockpiles as soon as possible,” according to RT.
Russia eliminated its entire chemical weapons arsenal in 2017. China has not claimed to possess any chemical weapons, but it has old arsenals left behind by Japan during World War II on Chinese territory. These weapons are now in the process of being destroyed, according to RT.
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