The U.S. Senate will begin debates on the ratification of a new arms reduction treaty with Russia as soon as it finalizes debates on various tax issues, a spokesman for the White House has said.
Discussions of a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia were included in the agenda of the U.S. Senate's December 13 session. However, the higher chamber of the Congress debated tax documents instead.
"Our belief is, as you've seen a number of Republican senators come out, that this is a treaty that has the votes to pass the Senate and I believe will pass the Senate before Congress goes home for the holidays," press secretary Robert Gibbs told a press briefing.
Earlier reports said that Congress will hold its last session on December 17 before breaking up for Christmas.
The results of November's elections to Congress, which saw the Republicans make big gains at the expense of the Democrats, mean that President Barack Obama has until January, when the new Congressmen take up their positions, to try to push the treaty through. The Obama administration hopes to get the treaty ratified by Christmas.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the arms reduction treaty on April 8 in Prague to replace the START 1 agreement that expired in December 2009.
The new Russian-U.S. pact obligates both nations to cap their fielded strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 warheads, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on either side.
The agreement will come into force after simultaneous ratification by both chambers of the Russian parliament and the U.S. Senate.
WASHINGTON, December 14 (RIA Novosti)
