U.S. President Barack Obama praised the ratification of the new strategic arms reduction treaty by the lower house of the Russian parliament during a phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday.
"The U.S. president expressed sincere satisfaction with the ratification by the Russian State Duma of the new START treaty, which is one of the most important achievements of the Russian-U.S. partnership over the past few years," the Kremlin said.
Russian lawmakers approved the new START treaty earlier on Tuesday, adding some provisions to the ratification document and issuing two supplementary statements to the resolution on ratification of the agreement.
The new arms reduction pact, replacing START 1, which expired in December 2009, was signed by Medvedev and Obama in Prague in April, 2010. The document slashes the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads, down from the current ceiling of 2,200.
The U.S. Senate ratified the deal on December 22, 2010, but added several amendments to the resolution on ratification, including a demand to build up U.S. global missile defenses.
The new agreement will come into force after ratification by the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.
The Council could hold its ratification vote as early as in its first session on Wednesday.
MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti)
