WASHINGTON, May 20 (Kyodo) - The United States is asking its partners in the Group of Seven (G-7) nations to give $10 billion in aid to Russia to prevent its nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorist organizations and rogue states, according to Japanese and U.S. diplomatic sources and an arms control expert.
The administration of President George W. Bush plans to obtain Russian consent at the U.S-Russia summit slated for Friday, the sources said.
It will then officially make the request to its G-7 counterparts -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- at the Group of Eight (the G-7 plus Russia) summit talks to be held in June in Canada.
It plans to promote the request by saying such aid is essential since they all face the growing threat of terrorism, the sources said.
Germany and Canada are expected to agree to the request, according to the sources, but Japan and Italy are likely to balk because they think the plan has been made ''in too much haste.''
The $10 billion is part of a $20 billion 10-year aid package aimed at keeping Russian nuclear arms and materials from being obtained by terrorist organizations, according to the sources.
Since 1991, the U.S. government has pushing to help financially strapped Russia in its efforts to abolish strategic nuclear arms under the Nunn-Luger Plan named after former Sen. Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat, and Sen. Richard Luger, an Indiana Republican.
The request aims at increasing the $1 billion now provided by the U.S. to $20 billion over the next decade.
The U.S. government is also planning to urge Russia to dispose of its nuclear arms and materials by making the Paris Club of major creditor nations waive the costs for such disposal from its $45 billion in public debts.