U.S.-ARMENIAN JOINT ACTION PLAN ON COMBATING NUCLEAR SMUGGLING

US Department of State
July 14 2008
DC

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian signed on July 14, 2008, the "Joint Action Plan
between the Government of the United States of America and the
Government of the Republic of Armenia on Combating Smuggling of
Nuclear and Radioactive Materials."

This political agreement expresses the intention of the two governments
to cooperate to increase the capabilities of the Republic of Armenia
to prevent, detect, and respond effectively to attempts to smuggle
nuclear or radioactive materials. It specifies twenty-eight agreed
steps that the two governments intend to be taken for this purpose.

The governments agree that they will proceed along parallel paths
in implementing this action plan. The Republic of Armenia intends
to implement those steps that it is capable of carrying out on
its own. For those steps where assistance is needed, the United
States intends to seek to identify sources, from within either
the U.S. government or the international community, to provide
such assistance. This assistance would complement and be carefully
coordinated with the aid the Republic of Armenia is already receiving
from various U.S. and international assistance programs.

With this agreement, the U.S. and Armenian governments are
significantly enhancing their collaborative efforts to combat the
threat that nuclear or highly radioactive materials could be acquired
by terrorists or others who would use them to harm us.

This is the fifth agreement of this nature that has been concluded by
the U.S. government’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative. Previous
agreements were completed with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the
Kyrgyz Republic, and the U.S. government intends to conclude similar
agreements with approximately twenty additional countries where the
risk of nuclear smuggling is of particular concern. To date, eight
countries and three international organizations have partnered with
the U.S. government to provide assistance to support implementation
of these agreements.