LISBON (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama used the international stage yesterday to press his Republican opponents in Congress to ratify a new nuclear arms deal with Russia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also urged US lawmakers to approve the START treaty swiftly and six European foreign ministers echoed the appeal in a joint appearance at a NATO summit in Lisbon.
The treaty, signed by Obama and Medvedev in April, commits the United States and Russia to cutting deployed nuclear weapons by about 30 percent — to no more than 1,550 — within seven years. It also includes verification measures.
