WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2023) Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins will visit a chemical agent-destruction plant in the state of Kentucky on June 26 ahead of the deadline for the full destruction of the US chemical weapons arsenal later this year, the State Department said on Friday.
"Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie D. Jenkins will travel to Richmond, Kentucky on June 26. The Under Secretary will visit the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in anticipation of the complete destruction of the remaining U.S. chemical weapons stockpile this year," the State Department said in a press release.
The Under Secretary will tour the plant and meet with personnel and operators while at the plant, the release added.
In February, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins said the United States would finalize the destruction of its chemical weapons this spring, but in May, President Joe Biden said that the United States is on track to complete the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal by this fall.
The US government announced in 2012 that it will complete the destruction of its chemical military arsenal by September 30, by agreement with all state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention that entered into force in 1997.
