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Obama Signs Nuclear Treaty Ratification Documents

03 February 2011 03:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. U.S. President Barack Obama has signed ratification documents for the new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

The White House says President Obama’s signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty papers on Wednesday in the Oval Office. His signature is the next-to-last step in putting the treaty into force.

The deal officially goes into effect Saturday when the two sides exchange the signed ratification documents. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to carry out the swap when they meet at the Munich Security Conference set for February 4-6.

The new treaty cuts the number of long-range nuclear warheads each country can deploy from 2,200 to 1,550. It also reinstate’s inspections of both country’s strategic weapons.

Forging a new START agreement was one of President Obama’s key foreign policy goals and part of his administration’s efforts to â€œresetâ€ ties with Russia. The deal replaces the 1991 START treaty, which expired in December 2009.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the ratification papers last week after the Russian parliament ratified the agreement. The U.S. Senate ratified it in December.

President Obama and President Medvev signed the new treaty last April.

Mr. Obama has said ratifying the deal is crucial to security and will strengthen the bond between the United States and Russia.