Report questions Russian arms compliance

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- U.S. officials said Russia may not be complying fully with international agreements on chemical and biological weapons, a State Department report indicates.

The report also indicates Russia may have settled most questions about violations against its nuclear arms treaty with the United States, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The State Department Compliance Report was sought by seven of the eight Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who said they were concerned because the last report in 2005 pointed out what they called "direct violations" by Russia against the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed in 1991.

The latest report, obtained by the Post, comes as the Senate considers a new treaty to replace START I. The White House said it hopes the treaty would be ratified by the end of the year. The Foreign Relations Committee could vote on the treaty as soon as next week.

Some Republicans set tough conditions for approval, including bullet-proof commitments from the White House to increase substantially spending for maintenance of the nuclear weapons complex. President Barack Obama has tried to address the GOP concerns by outlining a plan to spend $80 billion on the nuclear weapons complex in the next decade.

To pass, the treaty will need at least eight Republican votes, along with votes by all 57 Democrats and the two independents.

In recent weeks, the battle over the treaty has intensified, with the conservative Heritage Foundation initiating a campaign against its ratification and former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney calling it Obama's "worst foreign policy mistake."

For its part, the Obama administration has a list of bipartisan national security supporters of the treaty, including five former defense secretaries and six former secretaries of state.