MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden on Friday said the US had completed the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile.

"Today, I am proud to announce that the United States has safely destroyed the final munition in that stockpile—bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons," he said in a statement released by the White House.

Biden encouraged the remaining nations to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. He stated that "Russia and Syria should return to compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and admit their undeclared programs."

Russia, which had the largest stockpile of chemical weapons (about 40,000 tons), completed their destruction ahead of schedule in 2017, which was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The United States had an estimated stockpile of 31,500 tons at the time of joining the convention. The last remaining stocks of US chemical weapons were stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.