THE WHITE HOUSE
                     Office of the Press Secretary
  
 For Immediate Release                               June 17, 1991
  
    AGREEMENT ON THE DESTRUCTION AND SAFEGUARDING OF WEAPONS AND
         THE PREVENTION OF WEAPONS PROLIFERATION BETWEEN
                    THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA
  
 The agreement signed by President Bush and President Yeltsin today
 provides a legal framework for the transfer of up to $400 million of
 Department of Defense funds authorized by U.S. Public Law 102-229.  The
 agreement is the basic vehicle for providing of Nunn-Lugar assistance to
 Russia for the transport, safeguarding, and destruction of nuclear,
 chemical and other weapons of the former Soviet Union. The agreement
 specifies that DoD will be the executive agent for the U.S.
  
 The agreement allows the parties to enter into implementing agreements to
 accomplish these objectives. The first of these implementing agreements
 were also signed during the visit of President Yeltsin.  These cover:
  
 --   Armored Blankets.  The U.S. will immediately transfer to
      Russia 200 sets of special nylon blankets and an additional
      250 sets of Kevlar blankets to be produced in the U.S.
      within the next year.  The blankets will provide protection
      for Russian nuclear weapons containers.
  
 --   Emergency Response Equipment.  The U.S. will transfer to
      Russia beginning in FY 1993 over 1,000 pieces of accident
      response clothing and equipment to improve Russia's ability
      to respond in the event of an accident involving a nuclear
      weapon.
  
 --   Fissile Material Containers.  The U.S. will produce 10,000
      fissile material containers by December 1995. These
      containers will be used to store and transport the fissile
      components from dismantled Russian nuclear-weapons.
  
 --   Chemical Weapons. The U.S. will provide financial
      assistance for detailed planning and resource management,
      and will assist Russia in obtaining appropriate U.S.
      contractor support to expedite CW demilitarization
      activities.
  
 Discussions continuing in other areas may result in additional
 implementing agreements. These include:

 --   Safe and secure storage for nuclear materials and recovered
      components from dismantled nuclear weapons.
  
 --   Security enhancement for Russian railcars that transport
      nuclear weapons.
  
 --   Options for the ultimate disposition of fissile material
      from dismantled Russian nuclear warheads.
  
 --   The provisions of U.S. assistance to establish a system for
      the control and accountability of fissile materials.