Russia has reduced its chemical weapons stock pile by 90% or 35,972 tonnes which in absolute terms is more than any other member of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Colonel General Valery Kapashin told the Russian news agency Interfax on Monday.
This means Russia has now caught up with the US which had dismantled 90% of its arsenal in 2012 and continues to make progress albeit Washington aims to completely rid itself of chemical weapons only by 2023.
A number of other states, such as India, South Korea, Libya, Syria and Albania have already fully destroyed their stockpiles.
Israel and North Korea are believed to posses chemical weapons but are not signatories of the treaty.