RUSSIA HAILS U.S. SENATE’S RATIFICATION OF NEW START
(Circulated by Sukla Sen)
Moscow, December 23, 2010 (Xinhua) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed
the ratification of the new Russia-U.S. strategic arms reduction treaty (START) by the U.S. Senate, said the Russian presidential press secretary.
Medvedev was “satisfied to learn that the U.S. Senate ratified the new START and expressed the hope that the State Duma and the Federation Council will be prepared to consider this issue and also ratify the document,” said presidential press secretary Natalya Timakova, quoted by Interfax news agency.
However, Russian parliament may need some time to “study the legal aspects of the ratification by the Senate prior to making its own decision,” added Timakova.
The U.S. Senate ratified the new START by a 71-26 vote on Wednesday (December 22) evening.
Timakova said this is just another sign indicating that relations between Moscow and Washington are improving.
“Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agreed at the very beginning that the ratification process would be synchronized,” she said.
Moscow and Washington signed the new START on April 8, 2010 in Prague, which calls for a big cut in nuclear weapons from both sides. The treaty has to be ratified by the two countries’ lawmakers before officially taking into effect.