DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Hails US Nuclear Pact Approval....NSI News Source Info # 1372

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Hails US Nuclear Pact Approval....NSI News Source Info # 1372

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - December 23, 2010: President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed the US Senate's decision to ratify a landmark US-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, but Russian legislators said they need to study a resolution accompanying the document before following suit.

Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said on Thursday that when he signed the New START treaty with President Barack Obama, they agreed that the ratification process should be conducted simultaneously.

She said that Medvedev voiced hope that both houses of Russian parliament would ratify the pact, but added that they would need some time to analyse the Senate's conditions for its ratification before making their decision.

The New START treaty, signed by Obama and Medvedev in April, would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1550, down from the current ceiling of 2200. It also would re-establish a system for monitoring and verification which ended last year with the expiration of a previous arms control deal.

Legislators in the Kremlin-controlled parliament had said before the Senate landmark ruling on Wednesday that they would approve the treaty quickly after it was ratified in the US

Lower house speaker Boris Gryzlov, however, told reporters on Thursday that the Senate's ratification resolution contained some conditions and the legislators need to study the text carefully before making their decision.

He added that the State Duma may ratify the pact on Friday if the text of the treaty itself remained unchanged.

"If these conditions don't change the text of the treaty, we may pass a ratification bill even tomorrow," Gryzlov said.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-russia-hails-us.html