Medvedev hails U.S. passage of START

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed U.S. ratification of the U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty, saying he hoped his country's lawmakers would do the same.

Boris Gryzlov, speaker of Russia's lower house, said lawmakers may approve the treaty on Friday, RIA Novosti reported.

The U.S. Senate approved the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on a 71-to-26 vote Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama called the treaty "the most significant arms control agreement in nearly two decades."

"There is information that the resolution contains several conditions," Gryzlov said. "Unless the conditions concern the wording of the treaty, we may ratify the treaty tomorrow."

If changes were made to the text, "we will have to work on the issue," he said.

A spokesman said Medvedev hoped both chambers "will be ready to consider and ratify that document," the BBC reported.

Russia's upper house will not approve it before the new year, officials said. Gryzlov said the Russian parliament would first review the document to determine whether changes to the agreement were made during the U.S. Senate's ratification process.

The new START document was signed by Medvedev and Obama in April. It reduces U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and would allow each side to inspect and verify the other's nuclear capability. In addition, the pact includes legally binding limits on the number of warheads and missiles that can be deployed on land, submarines and bombers at any given time.