Russia to ratify START in 2011
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Russia's State Duma on Friday preliminarily approved the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) by a 350-58 vote in the first of its three required readings, but the final approval of the treaty would have to wait until 2011.
Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said "The second reading will be definitely not held in the framework of the current session, and in January at the earliest."
"We will express our attitude towards the U.S. Senate's ratification resolution in January or some time when we prepare our amendments for the second reading of the START ratification bill," said Kosachyov, who was quoted by news agencies.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate passed the new treaty in a 71-26 vote, delivering U.S. President Barack Obama his top foreign policy goal as the lame-duck Congress session draws to an end.
Moscow and Washington signed the new START on April 8 in Prague, which calls for a big cut in nuclear weapons from both sides. The treaty has been widely seen as an effort for both Moscow and Washington to "reset" their relations.
According to the new treaty, both countries must reduce the number of their strategic missiles by two-fold to 800 units, and reduce the number of warheads by one third to 1,550.
On Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a TV interview hailed the new START as a very important event this year.
"It is a cornerstone to ensure security for the next decades in the world and on the European continent," he said.
The treaty has to be ratified by the two countries' lawmakers before officially taking effect.
However, a resolution adopted by the U.S. senators has aroused Russia's concerns, and Russian lawmakers would not finish the ratification process until next year for the sake of a 10-day new year vacation.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate on the new strategic arms reduction treaty (START) was not legally binding.
"The Senate's resolution claims that the treaty does not apply to new kinds of non-nuclear strategic weapons that could be developed in the future. But this is not true," Lavrov said in the Federation Council as quoted by news agencies.
The statement by the U.S. Republican senators that denies link between offensive and defensive weapons was also legally unsubstantiated, he added.
"There are a few problems, one of the main ones being the assertion contained in this statement that the correlation between strategic offensive and defensive weapons, reflected in the treaty, is not legally binding for the U.S. and Russia because it is stipulated in the preamble. This thesis cannot be defended by lawyers," he said.
Lavrov also said the final draft resolution was more hard-lined than the initial version by including some Republicans' positions.
"Indeed, some of its points make this position more hard-lined as compared with the principles offered by the draft statement that was debated by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations," he said.
When addressing the State Duma the same day, Lavrov voiced confidence that Russian deputies would ratify the new treaty, since "the treaty is fully consistent with Russia's interests," and "there are all necessary preconditions for that."
Lavrov nonetheless threatened that should Washington deploy its missile defense system in full-scale, Russia would withdraw from the START.
If the State Duma fails to ratify the treaty, it would undermine Russia's reputation, said Lavrov.
"The main consequence will be that the treaty that really brings our relations with the United States to a fundamentally new qualitative level, to the level of equality, parity, and a balance of interests, will not come into force. I think this will deliver a serious blow to our reputation," he said.
Lavrov also expressed his hope the text of the new START would not be modified during the ratification process by the State Duma.
