A/RES/53/77 Page 45 4. Expresses further satisfaction at the continuing implementation of the Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the Elimination of Their IntermediateRange and Shorter-Range Missiles,64 in particular at the completion by the parties of the destruction of all their declared missiles subject to elimination under the Treaty; 5. Welcomes the removal of all nuclear weapons from the territory of Kazakhstan as from 1 June 1995, from the territory of Ukraine as from 1 June 1996, and from the territory of Belarus as from 30 November 1996; 6. Encourages Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United States of America to continue their cooperative efforts aimed at eliminating strategic offensive arms on the basis of existing agreements, and welcomes the contributions that other States are making to such cooperation as well; 7. Welcomes the participation in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons2 of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine as non-nuclear-weapon States, which thereby provided notable enhancement of the non-proliferation regime; 8. Welcomes the initiative signed by Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton on 2 September 1998, contained in the joint statement on the exchange of information on missile launches and early warning, to exchange information on the ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles derived from each side’s missile launch warning system, including the possible establishment of a centre for the exchange of missile launch data operated by the Russian Federation and the United States of America and separate from their respective national centres, and takes note of the initiative to examine bilaterally the possibility of establishing a multilateral ballistic missile and space launch vehicle pre-launch notification regime in which other States could voluntarily participate; 9. Welcomes the September 1998 pledge by the Russian Federation and the United States of America to remove by stages approximately fifty metric tons of plutonium from each of their nuclear weapons programmes, and to convert this material so that it can never be used in nuclear weapons; 10. Urges the Russian Federation and the United States of America to commence negotiations on a START III agreement immediately after ratification by the Russian Federation of START II, thereby fulfilling the commitments they undertook in the joint statement issued in Moscow on 2 September 1998; 11. Encourages and supports the Russian Federation and the United States of America in their efforts aimed at reducing and eliminating their nuclear weapons on the basis of existing agreements and to continue to give those efforts the highest priority in order to contribute to the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons; 12. Invites the Russian Federation and the United States of America to keep other States Members of the United Nations duly informed of progress in their discussions and in the implementation of their strategic offensive arms agreements and unilateral decisions. 79th plenary meeting 4 December 1998 /...