Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen responds to a reporter's question during his introduction to a press briefing on the recently concluded Cooperative Threat Reduction Initiative on Nov. 4, 1997. The Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova recently reached an agreement to implement the Cooperative Threat Reduction accord signed on June 23, 1997, in Moldova. This agreement authorized the United States Government to purchase nuclear-capable MiG-29 fighter planes from the Government of Moldova. This is a joint effort by both governments to ensure that these dual-use military weapons do not fall in to the hands of rogue states.