US president Barack Obama's drive to ratify the new Start nuclear treaty with Russia by year's end suffered a serious setback yesterday when a key Republican senator said there was not enough time this year to resolve remaining differences.
The statement by Jon Kyl, the second-ranked Senate Republican, prompted Vice President Joe Biden to warn that failure to pass the treaty this year would endanger US national security by leaving the two countries blind to each others' nuclear intentions.
Mr Biden said the administration had moved to address Mr Kyl's concerns about nuclear modernisation, making clear it planned to invest $80 billion over the next decade to upgrade US nuclear forces, and pledging an additional $4.1 billion for the next five years following consultations with Mr Kyl.
Mr Kyl has taken the Republican lead in negotiations with the administration on the treaty, which was signed by Mr Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in April and committed the former Cold War foes to cut deployed nuclear weapons by about 30 per cent, to no more than 1,550, within seven years.
The treaty must be approved by the US Senate and the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, before it will enter into force. Mr Medvedev has pushed the Kremlin-controlled Duma not to ratify the treaty until Senate approval is certain.
It was unclear whether the accord could move to a vote of the full Senate without Mr Kyl's support. Democrats need significant Republican backing to muster the 67 votes to ratify the treaty in the 100-member chamber. Senate aides say Mr Kyl is key to approving the treaty this year.
Mr Obama has postponed a meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to November 30th because of a scheduling conflict, the White House said.
Mr Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said the meeting, due to have taken place today, was being moved at the request of the Republican leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is encouraged that Mr Obama wants to discuss issues on which both political parties agree, a spokesman for Mr McConnell said.
Reuters