Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation Federation To First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russian 03 16 1992 No 187 150 Gaidar E T To No EG-P10-09648 from 03 12 1992 About considerations of the FIS of RF on the issue of elimination of nuclear weapons The creation of a coordinating group on the elimination of nuclear weapons is a very timely and necessary step In general the main content of the government instructions and attachments to the instructions deserve all-around support At the same time it would be expedient to take into account the following considerations in the process of final approval of the proposed materials 1 In our view in our negotiations with the Americans we should focus mainly on the control and protection of nuclear materials We doubt that it is advisable to emphasize the accounting of nuclear ammunition and materials paragraph 2 of the instructions especially considering our information that the Americans did not give up the idea of conducting a full “inventory” of our nuclear arsenal with the goal of subsequently placing them under American control 2 As we see it we might want to include an item in paragraph 2 of the instructions suggesting exploring the possibility of engaging other leading Western countries besides the United States in cooperation in the sphere of elimination of nuclear weapons Great Britain is very active in this sphere offering us ground equipment to transport warheads and technological assistance in operating the supplied equipment and also France which expressed willingness to assume the coordinating role within the framework of the European Community to ensure reliable control over Russian nuclear weapons Engaging other leading Western countries in this cooperation would undoubtedly increase the scale of assistance provided to Russia and also would push Washington toward signing truly mutually beneficial and not just tk promotional-propagandistic advertising-propagandistic programs of cooperation in the sphere of nuclear disarmament 3 Taking into account the possible negative consequences for the environment of the procedures of destroying nuclear weapons and the pressing necessity of making Russian state policy more sensitive toward environmental needs we believe it would expedient to include A V Yablokov state counselor on ecology in the Coordinating Group Moreover we might want to think about the option to exchange opinions with the Americans on the environmental aspects of our cooperation starting from in particular the main requirements of the American program “Complex 21 ” aimed mainly at ensuring the greater safety and environmental health of the militaryindustrial nuclear cycle Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation Ye Primakov Source National Security Archive Nunn-Lugar Collection obtained from the State Archive of the Russian Federation GARF Translated by Svetlana Savranskaya for the National Security Archive