MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2023) EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed the complete destruction of the United States' declared chemical weapons stockpiles, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said on Saturday.
"The European Union welcomes the information that the United States have achieved the complete destruction of its remaining chemical weapons stockpile on 7 July. The liquidation was completed before the scheduled timeline set for September this year in a safe and environmentally sound manner," the statement read.
Borrell also commended the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and its on-site team verifying the destruction for their "professional work in this context."
The US government announced in 2012 that it would complete the destruction of its chemical military arsenal by September 30, by agreement with all state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention that went into effect in 1997.
On Friday, the US's last chemical munition, an M55 rocket carrying the nerve agent sarin, was destroyed at an army depot in the US state of Kentucky, which was hailed by US President Joe Biden as a move "bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons."
Russia eliminated its stockpiles of chemical weapons by September 27, 2017.
