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Obama signs New START ratification documents

© RIA NovostiU.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama - Sputnik International
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U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed ratification papers for the New START arms reduction pact - a keystone of his painstaking effort to reset relations with Russia.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed ratification papers for the New START arms reduction pact - a keystone of his painstaking effort to reset relations with Russia.

The new deal, replacing START 1, which expired in December 2009, was signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama in Prague in April 2010. The document slashes the Russian and U.S. strategic nuclear arsenals to a maximum of 1,550 warheads, down from the current ceiling of 2,200.

The U.S. Senate ratified the deal on December 22, 2010, but added several amendments to the resolution on ratification, including a demand to build up U.S. global missile defenses.

Medvedev signed the ratification documents last Friday after both houses of the Russian parliament ratified the new treaty adding some provisions to the ratification document and issuing two supplementary statements to the resolution on the treaty ratification.

The deal will formally come into force when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchange the instruments of ratification in Munich on February 5.

Clinton and Lavrov will be in the German city for the 47th Munich Security Conference, to be held February 4-6. The annual gathering brings together senior figures from around the world to engage in intensive debate on current and future security challenges.

MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti)

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