Moscow promises speedy ratification of START

Dec 23, 2010, 9:18 GMT

Moscow - The Russian parliament is ready to undertake a speedy ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, the legislature's president said Thursday.

The Duma could complete discussions by Friday, Boris Gryzlov said, a day after the US Senate voted to ratify the accord, the news agency Interfax reported.

A condition for ratification was that the Senate's slightly amended non-binding resolution to the text of the treaty does not change the actual agreement, he was quoted as saying.

Analysts said there was little doubt the pro-Kremlin legislature would approve the treaty. The Duma had been waiting for an outcome of the contentious debate in the Senate.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the Senate vote was further evidence of an improvement in relations between Moscow and Washington.

'The treaty will not only further Russian and US security, but it will have a positive effect on international security and stability,' Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said late Wednesday, according to the Interfax news agency.

The US Senate voted 71-26 to ratify the accord that requires both sides to reduce their deployment of nuclear warheads to 1,550.

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