HC Deb 06 March 1989 vol 148 c406W
Mr. John Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the accuracy of Mr. Gorbachev's estimate of the Soviet chemical weapons stockpile as 50,000 tonnes.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The Soviet claim that its stockpile of chemical warfare agents is no larger than 50,000 tonnes has not been backed up by any supporting data. We assess, in common with other Western estimates, that total Soviet chemical warfare stocks are several times higher.

Back to