our delegation to Ambassador Kostov of Bulgaria, and express our appreciation for his significant contributions to the Conference and wish him all the best in his new responsibilities? As we begin our work this summer, I would like to provide information to the Conference on a few of the achievements of the summit meeting that took place in Washington at the end of May and earlier this month, especially those which have been alluded to already by other speakers and which relate closely to the CD's areas of interest. This statement by the United States delegation is made with the agreement of the head of the Soviet delegation, Minister Sergei Batsanov. When Ambassador Ledogar reported to you on 24 April regarding the results of the fifteenth bilateral round of United States/USSR discussions on chemical weapons, he expressed the joint hope of both countries that a new bilateral chemical weapon agreement would be signed at the summit meeting, and that it would be possible to report further progress toward a global, comprehensive chemical weapons ban. I am pleased to report that this hope has been fulfilled. On 1 June, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev signed a bilateral agreement which calls for the destruction of the vast bulk of the United States and Soviet declared chemical weapons stockpiles, with on-site inspections to confirm that destruction has taken place. To promote the objective of a global ban, both countries have agreed they will not produce chemical weapons when the bilateral destruction agreement enters into force or thereafter, and they will encourage all chemical-weapons-capable States to follow suit. Key provisions of the bilateral CW destruction agreement are as follows: destruction of the vast bulk of declared stocks to begin by the end of 1992; 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a diplomatic statement discussing a bilateral agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union (now Russia) regarding the destruction of chemical weapons. The language used is formal and diplomatic, indicating that it is a official statement from a government delegation. The content focuses on international relations and disarmament, which suggests that the category should be related to international cooperation.

**Category**
International trade, Humanitarian aid and relief