Democratic Senator John Kerry (L), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Dick Lugar (R) of Indiana deliver remarks after the Senate voted to rafity the START 2 treaty. EPA/BGNES
The Obama Administration has managed to get the ratification of the new US-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 2) through the "lame-duck" Senate.
With a total of 71 votes in favor and 26 votes against, the US Senate sealed the long-anticipated ratification of the START 2 treaty by a comfortable margin. The Obama Administration had to reach out to some Republican Senators for bipartisan support since the Democrats have only 58 of 100 Senate seats, with a two-thirds majority needed to ratify international treaties.
The new START Treaty was signed in April 2010 by Obama and Medvedev but is viewed unfavorably by the Republican Party in the US Senate; some Republicans, who made gains in the Senate in the mid-terms in early November have been trying to delay the vote on the Treaty until the new Senate convenes in January 2011 when they would have been more likely to defeat the ratification.
President Obama's signature is the only thing left to complete the ratification of START 2 on the American side.
Senior US diplomats have stated their hopes that the START 2 Treaty will enter into force before the end of the winter as the two chambers of the Russian parliament are also supposed to ratify it, and the signature of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is also needed.
The new Russian-US pact obligates both nations to cap their fielded strategic nuclear weapons to 1 550 warheads, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on either side.
During the recent NATO Summit in Lisbon, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged the US Senate to ratify the new US-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty warning that any delay in that would hurt the security and stability in Europe.
The news about the ratification of the treaty by the US Senate has been welcomed with great noted satisfaction by Russia.
"We welcome the approval of the treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared as cited by Interfax.
NATO's chief Rasmussen has been equally, if not more excited by the US Senate ratification of START 2.
"The ratification of the START 2 treaty is extremely important for Euro-Atlantic security. It makes the reduction of the nuclear arms of the USA and Russia predictable. This paves the way towards progress on initiatives for control of conventional and nuclear weapons aiming to increase security in the Euro-Atlantic zone and beyond," Rasmussen said.
He further noted that at the recent NATO summit in Lisbon the Alliance has moved to cooperate with Russia in an array of fields, including on missile defense.
"The Alliance and Moscow agreed they are not threats to each other, to the contrary, they aspire for strategic partnership," he declared.
With a total of 71 votes in favor and 26 votes against, the US Senate sealed the long-anticipated ratification of the START 2 treaty by a comfortable margin. The Obama Administration had to reach out to some Republican Senators for bipartisan support since the Democrats have only 58 of 100 Senate seats, with a two-thirds majority needed to ratify international treaties.
The new START Treaty was signed in April 2010 by Obama and Medvedev but is viewed unfavorably by the Republican Party in the US Senate; some Republicans, who made gains in the Senate in the mid-terms in early November have been trying to delay the vote on the Treaty until the new Senate convenes in January 2011 when they would have been more likely to defeat the ratification.
President Obama's signature is the only thing left to complete the ratification of START 2 on the American side.
Senior US diplomats have stated their hopes that the START 2 Treaty will enter into force before the end of the winter as the two chambers of the Russian parliament are also supposed to ratify it, and the signature of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is also needed.
The new Russian-US pact obligates both nations to cap their fielded strategic nuclear weapons to 1 550 warheads, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on either side.
During the recent NATO Summit in Lisbon, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged the US Senate to ratify the new US-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty warning that any delay in that would hurt the security and stability in Europe.
The news about the ratification of the treaty by the US Senate has been welcomed with great noted satisfaction by Russia.
"We welcome the approval of the treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared as cited by Interfax.
NATO's chief Rasmussen has been equally, if not more excited by the US Senate ratification of START 2.
"The ratification of the START 2 treaty is extremely important for Euro-Atlantic security. It makes the reduction of the nuclear arms of the USA and Russia predictable. This paves the way towards progress on initiatives for control of conventional and nuclear weapons aiming to increase security in the Euro-Atlantic zone and beyond," Rasmussen said.
He further noted that at the recent NATO summit in Lisbon the Alliance has moved to cooperate with Russia in an array of fields, including on missile defense.
"The Alliance and Moscow agreed they are not threats to each other, to the contrary, they aspire for strategic partnership," he declared.
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