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Senate ratifies new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction pact (Update 1)

© RIA Novosti . Igor Mikhalev / Go to the mediabankSenate ratifies new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction pact
Senate ratifies new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction pact  - Sputnik International
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The United States Senate ratified on Wednesday a new nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia, with a vote of 71 for and 26 against.

The United States Senate ratified on Wednesday a new nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia, with a vote of 71 for and 26 against.

The New START treaty, which restricts both nations to a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads, down from the current ceiling of 2,200, was signed by Russian and U.S. presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in April.

The agreement will come into force after ratification by both houses of the Russian parliament. Medvedev earlier made it clear that Russia would not ratify the treaty until the pact is finally approved by the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Senate ratified the new arms pact after 18 hearings and seven days of debate, answering more than 1,000 questions in line with the document. The White House and State Department worked non-stop for weeks in heavy debates and several months working with Republicans to pass the bill.

Obama promised earlier to cancel his Christmas vacation in order to hold his promise to Medvedev that the pact would be ratified by the end of the year.

Republican senators made several attempts to drag out the process of reviewing the new pact, and even attempted to have the enormous amount of text, including the appendices, read out loud on the Senate floor. The Republicans were attempting to put the final vote off until the beginning of 2011 when the number of Republicans in the Senate would significantly increase, giving them more muscle.

WASHINGTON, December 22 (RIA Novosti)

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