British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday he was "delighted" that Russia had ratified the New Start nuclear arms disarmament treaty with the United States.
"I am delighted that the Russian Duma and Federation Council have joined their counterparts in the U.S. Congress and ratified the New Start treaty. We can now look forward to the treaty's entry into force," Hague said in a statement.
Earlier this week, both houses of the Russian parliament gave their backing to New Start, which trims the number of nuclear warheads deployed by each country to 1,550.
The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty last month.
"The recent ratification of the treaty by both the U.S. and Russia has given a timely boost to the international community as it seeks to make progress on the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda in 2011, including strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Hague said. "The U.K. looks forward to further cooperation with the U.S., Russia and our other partners towards our long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons."
New Start will replace its predecessor, signed in 1991, which expired at the end of 2009.
LONDON, January 27 (RIA Novosti)
