Russian Parliament to Ratify START Treaty This Year

Russia's lower parliament house could ratify the new START nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States by the end of 2010, and possibly as early as today, Friday, leading Kremlin-allied lawmakers said on Thursday.

State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said the lower chamber could vote to ratify the treaty as early as Friday if the U.S. Senate's resolution on ratification "did not affect the text of the agreement," state-run news agency RIA reported.

The U.S. Senate voted 71-26 on Wednesday to approve the treaty, the linchpin of efforts to "reset" long-strained ties between Moscow and Washington and a boost for efforts to curb nuclear proliferation worldwide.

The treaty will cut long-range, strategic nuclear weapons deployed by Russia and the United States to no more than 1,550 on each side within seven years and establish monitoring rules to keep tabs on the world's largest nuclear arsenals.