Moscow - Vice-President Al Gore hailed his relationship with the Russian Prime Minister, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, yesterday after signing an agreement to halt the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
"I've come to greatly value your friendship, Viktor Stepanovich," Mr Gore told the Russian leader. "It's a good chemistry; we work well together."
Russia has agreed to convert, with US assistance, its three plutonium production reactors to civilian use by the year 2000 and promised not to restart another 10 such reactors already shut down.