NATO welcomes US Senate approval of New START

Wed, 22 Dec 2010

Brussels - NATO welcomed the new nuclear arms reduction accord approved by the US Senate on Wednesday, with Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calling it "a significant contribution to Euro- Atlantic security."

"The foreseen reduction of US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons will pave the way for progress on conventional and nuclear arms control initiatives that would further enhance security in the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond," Rasmussen said in a statement.

"At NATO's recent Lisbon Summit, all Allied leaders expressed their unanimous support for ratification of the START Treaty."

The Senate voted 71-26 to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, clearing the two-thirds majority required under the US Constitution for treaty ratification.

New START was signed by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April and binds the two sides to cut their numbers of active warheads to 1,550 within seven years, or by about 30 per cent from the 1991 treaty that expired in December 2009. Both sides must reduce delivery systems that include long range missiles, submarine launches missiles and bomber fleets to 700.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/359404,senate-approval-new-start.html.