Russian lawmaker coordinating nuke pact

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A Russian lawmaker headed to Washington Wednesday to prepare a coordinated ratification of a new U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction treaty, officials said.

Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the International Affairs Committee in Russia's upper chamber of parliament, said he hoped the new agreement would be signed before the end of March, adding that the two sides would discuss several aspects of the ratification process, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"Together with the colleagues from the U.S. Senate we will carry out preparatory work for the synchronized ratification of the treaty," Margelov said before leaving Moscow.

The new treaty's outline, as agreed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama, includes reducing nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,000.

The document replaces the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expired Dec. 5. It must be ratified by lawmakers in Moscow and Washington before it takes effect.

Margelov said Russian lawmakers could ratify the treaty in about a month, but the approval process could face "more serious work" in the U.S. Congress because of disagreements over the risks and potential threats, RIA Novosti said.

"It is important that the new Russian-American treaty ... does not fall victim to the bipartisan disagreements between the Republicans and the Democrats, as it happened with some other international documents," he said.