The US Senate has voted to start negotiations on the new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
66 senators voted for and 32 against. At least two thirds of votes are
needed, RIA Novosti reports.
It is a success for Barack Obama's administration. Some senators were
trying to put the issue off until the next year.
The Russian and US presidents signed the START agreement in Prague on
April 8, 2010. The sides will reduce the number of warheads by a third
in seven years, to 1 550, compared with the Moscow agreement of 2002
and will reduce the maximum available strategic carriers two-fold. The
agreement needs to be approved by both chambers of the Russian
parliament and the US Senate.
