Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed US ratification of a landmark treaty to cut nuclear arsenals and says he hopes Russia’s parliament will ratify it too.
The US Congress approved the New Start treaty on Wednesday, when reluctant Republicans were won over.
The Speaker of Russia’s State Duma (lower house), Boris Gryzlov, said MPs might approve the pact on Friday.
Under the deal, Russia and the US will cut deployed nuclear warheads by 30%.
President Medvedev hopes that the Duma and the upper house, the Federation Council, “will be ready to consider and ratify that document”, a Kremlin spokeswoman said.
