Armenia and U.S. to jointly combat nuclear smuggling

PanARMENIAN.Net - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian signed on July 14, 2008, the "Joint Action Plan between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Armenia on Combating Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials."



This political agreement expresses the intention of the two governments to cooperate to increase the capabilities of the Republic of Armenia to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to attempts to smuggle nuclear or radioactive materials. With this agreement, the U.S. and Armenian governments are significantly enhancing their collaborative efforts to combat the threat that nuclear or highly radioactive materials could be acquired by terrorists.



This is the fifth agreement of this nature that has been concluded by the U.S. government's Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative. Previous agreements were completed with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the Kyrgyz Republic. To date, eight countries and three international organizations have partnered with the U.S. government to provide assistance to support implementation of these agreements, reported the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.