White House Press Office, WASHINGTONL The following is a statement by the White House Press Secretary:
The United States and Russia have signed a Protocol to extend for another seven year period the U.S.-Russia Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Umbrella Agreement. The Agreement was concluded in 1992 under the leadership of President George H. W. Bush and Senators Lugar and Nunn, and first extended in 1999.
CTR programs are a key tool used to deal with one of the gravest threats we face — the danger that terrorists and proliferators could gain access to weapons or materials of mass destruction. Under the CTR programs, thousands of missiles and warheads have been deactivated.
The CTR program is also assisting efforts to complete upgrades to Russian nuclear warhead sites in accordance with the Bratislava Nuclear Security Cooperation initiative announced by the President and President Putin last year. By working to secure, eliminate, and account for weapons and materials of mass destruction, CTR programs support the President's National Security Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In addition to CTR work in Russia, CTR programs have assisted Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine to become free of nuclear weapons and strategic delivery systems, and helped many states to prevent the proliferation of sensitive materials.
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