WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has submitted to the Senate a nuclear arms treaty reached with Russia last month.
President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed the deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Control Treaty. If ratified by both countries, the deal would slash the former Cold War rivals’ warhead arsenals by nearly one-third.
Ratification in the Senate will require 67 of the 100 possible votes. That means Obama will need support from Republicans, something he has found hard to come by on other issues. The deal has been held up as improvement in U.S.-Russian relations and failure to ratify it would be a setback.
Obama and Medvedev discussed the treaty and other issues in a telephone call Thursday.
