The Russian government today welcomed the US Senate's decision to ratify a groundbreaking nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries.
However, Russian legislators said they need to study the document before following suit, despite an agreement between President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama when they signed the New Start treaty in April that the ratification process should be conducted simultaneously .
Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said the president hoped that both houses of the Russian parliament would ratify the pact, but added they would need to analyse the Senate's conditions before making their decision.
The New Start treaty aims to limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It would also establish a system for monitoring and verification, after US weapons inspections ended last year after a previous arms control deal expired.
The US Senate yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
The treaty has been Obama's main foreign policy achievement despite his struggling against Republican opposition in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority was needed for ratification.
With only hours of the Senate left before members headed off for Christmas, senators voted 71 to 26 in favour, a much bigger majority than had been widely predicted. In the end, 13 Republicans defied their own leadership to vote for the treaty.
The vote topped off a series of legislative victories for Obama over the last few weeks. Before heading off tonight to join his family in Hawaii for the Christmas holiday, Obama trumpeted these successes at a White House press conference.
He noted that a lot of people in the aftermath of the November congressional elections, which proved to be a disaster for the Democrats, had predicted stalemate in Washington DC. But "it has been a season of progress", Obama said, adding: "We are not doomed to endless gridlock."
Obama ran through the legisation that had been passed, of which the most important were the repeal of the ban on gay personnel serving openly in the military, which he signed into law earlier today, and the extension of tax cuts, a messy compromise with the Republicans but which he hopes will help stimulate the economy.
Other legislation includes one on food safety and another, which due for approval within the next few hours, will provide financial help for police, fire officers and others suffering respiratory problems from the 9/11 attack on New York.
On top of the health reform legislation earlier this year, the legislation passed in "lame-duck" Congress – the session between the 2 November election and the new Congress in January, traditionally a dead zone – provides Obama with a substantial legacy less than two years into his presidency.
He described the legislation passed in the last few weeks as "the most productive post-election period we've had in decades". He said the Start treaty was important for US national security but also for maintaining good relations with Russia.
The treaty will reduce strategic nuclear warheads deployed by each country to 1,550 within seven years. Deployed missile launchers would be cut to 700.
John Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said: "This historic Senate vote makes our country safer and moves the world further away from the danger of nuclear disaster. The winners are not defined by party or ideology.
"The winners are the American people, who are safer with fewer Russian missiles aimed at them, and who benefit knowing that our co-operation with Russia in curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions and supplying our troops in Afghanistan can be strengthened.
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