OTTAWA and ROME -- Western leaders participating in the Group of Eight summit in Kananaskis, Alta., next month will be asked to approve an ambitious $20-billion (U.S.) plan to help Russia destroy thousands of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to keep them out of the hands of terrorists.
The U.S.-sponsored plan, presented amid dire warnings from Washington that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups might strike with weapons of mass destruction, has won political support from the federal government, the host for the June 26-27 summit.
WAshington is offering the first $10-billion. President George W. Bush will ask the six other Western partners -- Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Italy -- to match it over the next 10 years.
Diplomatic sources say Germany and Italy strongly support the plan, Canada, Britain and France are open to the idea but want to see what other countries are willing to contribute, and Japan is less enthusiastic because of fears that corruption in Russia might siphon off some of the money.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham says negotiations concerning the so-called 10-plus-10-over-10 plan are not likely to be constructive until leaders have a chance to meet at Kananaskis.
"It's like every other negotiation," Mr. Graham said, "people will only sign on if other people sign on."
He would not speculate on Canada's contribution to the effort, but said any final division of the bill is likely to be based on the gross domestic product and populations of the donating countries.
One suggestion is to encourage Russia to spend more of its own money on dismantling its nuclear stockpile by forgiving some of its foreign debt, diplomatic sources say.
Although nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues are a traditional Canadian concern, there has been no formal announcement from Ottawa that the U.S. proposal will be high on the Kananaskis agenda.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is open to the idea if the Americans raise it during a planned discussion on fighting terrorism, senior government officials said.
Mr. Chrétien wants this G8 summit to focus on his key issue: assistance for the poorest countries of Africa. His officials have said they hope other issues will not overshadow the discussions about Africa.
But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the conclusion of a NATO summit in Rome on Tuesday, said Mr. Chrétien is committed to the U.S. non-proliferation initiative.
"Personally, I was able to convince the Prime Minister of Canada and also . . . our European allies so that we can participate in this investment in security," Mr. Berlusconi said through an interpreter.
Mr. Graham told the Commons foreign-affairs committee yesterday that Russia, the United States and the other nuclear powers need to do more to reduce and eventually eliminate their arsenals.
If nuclear weapons are ever used in a war, the lives of innocent bystanders will be at risk, he said.
Russia and the United States recently reached agreement to cut nuclear arsenals within a decade from 5,000 to about 2,000 warheads on each side.
Arms-control experts say it is unlikely a terrorist group could get a fully assembled Russian warhead. Rather, the fear is terrorists could steal or buy weapons-grade plutonium or enriched uranium on the black market and build the triggering mechanisms themselves.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.