G-7 leaders agree to seek nuclear test ban

April 20, 1996
Web posted at: 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- With the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster just days away, leaders of the world's seven wealthiest nations pledged Saturday to seek a ban on all nuclear explosions by the end of the year.

Concluding a two-day summit on nuclear safety, the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders agreed to closer cooperation on nuclear safety issues and signed a declaration on combating nuclear smuggling.

The eight leaders also endorsed a commitment to achieve a nuclear comprehensive test-ban treaty, although that will also require Chinese agreement -- which was still in doubt.

"Today, we took yet another step back from the nuclear precipice," U.S. President Bill Clinton said.

But German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said there was much work still to be done. "I would readily agree with those who say this is a very slow process indeed," he said.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma once again pledged to shut down the two remaining reactors at Chernobyl by the year 2000. Ukraine has already been promised $3 billion in aid for closing the plant, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in his remarks at the summit's opening, lambasted leaders of NATO nations for deploying U.S. nuclear weapons on the European continent.

"Russia considers it a proliferation of nuclear arms when nuclear weapons are placed on the territory of non-nuclear states," Yeltsin said.

"It is in our common interests to ensure that the nuclear weapons of all nuclear counties are also concentrated within the boundaries of their territories," he said, noting that Russia is scheduled to complete withdrawal of its nuclear weapons from Belarus and Ukraine later this year.

Yeltsin refused, however, to budge on his controversial sale of nuclear reactors to Iran. Clinton said that while it's a bad idea, it doesn't undercut the summit's usefulness.

"This one thing I strongly disagree with does not come close to outweighing the benefits that we've gotten out of this relationship," Clinton said.

When the talks ended, Clinton took a welcome break. He strolled through Red Square, bought some bread at a bakery and heard complaints from locals about soaring prices. But Clinton's response to Moscovites was firm: Be patient with reform, he told them. It's a message he plans on reiterating to Yeltsin when they meet Sunday.

Other G-7 leaders attending the summit were French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister John Major, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Italian Prime Minister Lamberto Dini and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Chirac co-hosted the summit with Yeltsin.

Related stories:

• What they said at the Moscow summit on nuclear safety... - April 20, 1996
• G-7 leaders pledge test ban treaty by end of the year - April 20, 1996
• Debating the cost of Chernobyl - April 20, 1996
• Chernobyl 10 years later: still contaminated, still poor - April 19, 1996
• Clinton arrives in Russia for nuclear summit, calls for cease-fire in Lebanon - April 18, 1996
• Nuclear test ban treaty possible this year - March 18, 1996
• Chirac ends French nuclear testing - January 29, 1996

Related site:

• British American Security Information Council: An Agenda for the G-7+1 Summit

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