START backed

RUSSIA’S upper house of parliament ratified the new US nuclear disarmament treaty yesterday, the final step in approving the first nuclear pact between the two former Cold War rivals in 20 years.

Senators at the Federation Council voted unanimously to approve the new START treaty, which US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed in Prague on April 8, 2010.

The new Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START) reduces old warhead ceilings by 30% and limits each side to 700 deployed long-range missiles and heavy bombers.