MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on suspending the Russian-U.S. intergovernmental agreement on disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. The document was posted on the official website of legal information yesterday.

The document was passed by the Russian State Duma lower parliament house on Oct. 19, 2016 and approved by the Federation Council upper house on Oct. 26, 2016.

The law comes into force on the day of its official publishing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a draft law on suspending the agreement between Russia and the United States on plutonium disposal to the State Duma on Oct. 3 after signing a relevant decree.

Apart from the direct provisions on suspending the plutonium deal, the draft law lists the conditions for the possible resumption of the accords. Among them is Washington’s cancellation of the Magnitsky Act, all anti-Russian sanctions, compensating for the damage sustained by Moscow and reducing US military infrastructure in NATO countries.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier the agreement may be suspended for an indefinite period.

The agreement with the United States was signed on Aug. 29, 2000. It envisaged ways of disposing of excessive weapons grade plutonium in Russia and the United States, including the production of mixed oxide fuel to be used in nuclear power reactors, conversion into non-weapons-grade form and also burial. It was expected that either side will start eliminating "declassified" amounts of plutonium in an amount of 34 tons. Russia converts weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear power plants.—TASS