"The quickest destruction of chemical weapons is in Russia's interest," Ivanov said, quoted by Interfax-AVN news agency.

"The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is one of the global questions directly affecting Russia's security," he said after meeting the new head of Russia's chemical disarmament agency, Viktor Kholstov.

On Wednesday, outgoing chief Zinovy Pak said that Russia had completed ahead of schedule the first stage in its program to destroy the country's stock of chemical weapons, which is the largest in the world.

Russia had promised to destroy by April 29 400 tonnes of chemical weapons, or one percent of its 40,000-tonne stock, which is seen as vulnerable to theft and sale in the corruption-tainted post-Soviet era.

Russia has pledged under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention to destroy its chemical weapons stock by 2012.

SPACE.WIRE