Russia ratifies new START nuclear arms reduction treaty

Russia's upper house of parliament ratified the new U.S. nuclear disarmament treaty Wednesday, the final step in approving the first nuclear pact between the two former Cold War rivals in 20 years.

The Federation Council passed a bill required for ratification of the Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), which presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in Prague in April 2010.

The bill on the treaty had already passed through Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

The path toward ratifying the treaty was far from smooth, and it is likely to face more difficulties even after it goes into force within weeks, according to Ria Novosti.

The new START treaty is meant to replace the first such treaty, which expired in December 2009, 15 years after its adoption, as well as the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Accord. The latter was a revised version of the second START, signed in 1993, but never ratified.

The new START treaty reduces old warhead ceilings by 30 percent: each party is allowed a maximum of 1,550 warheads and no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear arms. Another 100 are allowed if they are not operationally deployed.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed the vote as "good news for international security and stability."