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Lavrov and Kerry sign agreement on national nuclear threat reduction centres

The agreement was supposed to be signed durin Obama's cancelled visit to Moscow in September
Photo EPA/BARBARA WALTON
Photo EPA/BARBARA WALTON

BALI, Indonesia, October 7 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday signed on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali an agreement on the national nuclear threat reduction centres.

In September, head of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz signed the agreement on Cooperation in Nuclear- and Energy-Related Scientific Research and Development. It provides for cooperation in the sphere of new technologies in the nuclear power industry and safety of waste management. The document, along with the agreement of the national centres was being prepared for adoption within the framework of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow that had been planned for early September, but which was suspended by the American side at the last minute.

Putin and Obama were to meet at the APEC summit in Bali, but the U.S. president cancelled the trip. The reason was the problem with the state budget. The decision is caused by the partial shutdown of the federal government and negotiations with Congress on this issue.