A new U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction treaty should be simultaneously ratified by the end of the year, a Russian lawmaker said on Friday.
On Thursday the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommended that the Senate ratify a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia signed by the U.S. and Russian presidents on April 8 in Prague as a replacement for the START 1 treaty that expired in December 2009.
U.S. President Barack Obama and other top officials also urged the Senate to speed up the ratification of the Russian-U.S. pact.
"The improvement of Russian-U.S. relations will give an additional significance to the resolution of complicated global issues," said Mikhail Margelov, head of the upper house's international relations committee.
Earlier on Friday a spokesman for Russian Foreign Ministry, Andrey Nesterenko, said Russia hoped that U.S. lawmakers would consider a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia "coherent and mutually-beneficial" and speed up its ratification.
"Its ratification will contribute to the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime," Nesterenko said.
Nesterenko added that the document contains a unilateral get-out clause to be made use of if either of the countries believes its national interests are threatened.
Representatives of the Department of State and the U.S. administration earlier said that the Senate may vote for the ratification before the November 2 mid-term elections. However, Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Senate's foreign affairs committee, said voting should take place after the elections to ensure a smoother and swifter vote,
"I personally believe we will have the votes to ratify this," the senator said.
MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti)
