Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday ratified an international treaty on preventing nuclear terrorism.

The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, provides additional possibilities for increasing anti-terror cooperation under the UN auspices.

An explanatory note to the document states that the convention is the first international universal treaty aimed at preventing terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction.

"Five countries have already ratified the convention, but 22 ratifications are needed for its coming in force," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Lavrov said provisions of the convention would be "fulfilled in close interaction with the IAEA," the UN nuclear watchdog.

Russia will work together with the United States "to create practical institutions for the implementation of the document's points", he added.

"The ratification of the document meets the interests of Russia and the whole international community," Lavrov said.

The UN General Assembly adopted the document in April 2005. Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of several other nations signed the convention, which was developed on Russia's proposal, in September that year.

Source: Xinhua