"In Bratislava the presidents made things totally clear in this question and instructed the corresponding agencies of the two states to interact in the sphere of assurance of security of nuclear facilities and materials. The instruction wholly relies on the parity basis. So, I've heard nothing about any additional agreements", Lavrov said answering questions from journalists after the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The question emerged because earlier on Wednesday, in the live broadcast of the radio station Moscow's Echo, Rice said that she had discussed with the Russian defense minister the possibility of inspecting Russian nuclear facilities by American experts. We have gained our better access to the facilities but there is still work to do, Rice said.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had rejected the statement and said he had not discussed the question with the American state secretary. "Yes, I've had a working meeting with Rice. These questions were not in discussion. We proceeded from the documents signed in Bratislava, which say nothing of inspecting nuclear facilities", Sergei Ivanov said.
He said that inspection of the facilities is done, upon agreement, by Rosatom (the Federal Nuclear Energy Agency) and the United States Department of Energy with the involvement of the two countries' military establishments in what concerns them. "They are drawing up a report and, to the best of my knowledge, it is to be presented on June 30", the Russian defense minister said.
