The Russian Foreign Minister asked the West for help with the disposal of old ammunition

In the capital of Poland, Warsaw, an informal meeting of the heads of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, Germany and Poland was held, which discussed the issue of disposal of ammunition. In particular, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov became interested in the experience of Western countries in this area, ITAR-TASS reports.

“Since Russia has abandoned the method of destroying obsolete ammunition, which have served their term, by undermining, we are interested in using modern technologies that our partners have,” Lavrov said. He added that in recent years, several hundred tanks and artillery systems have been withdrawn from the Kaliningrad region. “This project (Russia -NATO Council) is in a very advanced stage, experts from other NATO countries are connected to it. I believe that it will be another very useful step in demilitarization in the European region,” said Nadezhda Lavrov.

The old method of destroying ammunition was too unprofitable. As the Radio "Voice of Russia" notes, the damage from emergency situations that arose as a result of the disposal of outdated ammunition by undermining from 1994 to 2011 amounted to 11 billion rubles.

The initiative of disposal was supported by the head of the Foreign Ministry of Poland, Radoslav Sikorsky and the German Foreign Minister Gido Westerwell. According to Sikorsky, this project will destroy "several tens of thousands of tons of weapons, which could harm the civilian population."

During the negotiations, ministers also discussed the issue of Syrian settlement. Gido Westerwell said that he supports the initiative of the United States and the Russian Federation to convene an international conference in Syria, while he urged Russia to stop all the supply of weapons to Syria, the Voice of Russia reports. Questions and border cooperation were raised, in particular the theme of the visa -free regime.

“Today we discussed the most difficult issues with our colleagues. We have a general understanding that Russia and NATO are not enemies, and this is enshrined in the documents that were accepted at the highest level,” the laurels appreciated the results of negotiations.

The next meeting of ministers in tripartite format will be held in St. Petersburg in 2014.