Richard Lugar made his comments at a conference on weapons of mass destruction on Wednesday entitled "Defense in Depth Against WMD Threats: Preparedness at Home and Abroad," in Chantilly, Virginia.
He said: "Last year, I was concerned by reports that U.S.-Russian negotiations did not include discussions of a legally binding treaty or the continuation of a formal verification regime. I am pleased to report that the Administration has changed course and will accept a legally-binding regime."
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on July 31, 1991, five months before the union collapsed, and remains in force between the U.S., Russia, and three other ex-Soviet states.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have since disposed of all their nuclear weapons or transferred them to Russia, and the U.S. and Russia have reduced the number of delivery vehicles to 1,600, with no more than 6,000 warheads. The treaty is set to expire on December 5, 2009.
Lugar said: "While we have put the question to rest of whether an agreement would be legally binding, we now must cross the finish line and conclude negotiations to ensure that the START Treaty does not expire."
He said the confidence provided by the treaty and its effective verification regime will reduce the chances of misinterpretation and error.
"The current Russian-American relationship is complicated enough without introducing more elements of uncertainty," he said. "Failure to preserve the START Treaty would increase the potential for distrust between the two sides."
General James E. Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said last year that refusal to prolong the START-1 Treaty would allow the United States to conduct quick and pinpointed strikes anywhere in the world, which is crucial for an effective fight against global terrorism.
