OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2010. “Today the President and the participants of the Senate Republican Conference had a productive conversation on the priorities of this year. The President asked them to cooperate in completion of measures on work creation and economy improving as well as in providing opportunities for small businesses to get loans, ratifying the START agreement, which is central to our long-term safety and nuclear non-proliferation efforts; quick nomination of Helena Keygan as a judge of the Supreme Court so that she could take her place when the court resumes work after summer vacation" states the White House according to RIA Novosti.

U.S. President Barack Obama and RF President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty on Strategic Arms Reduction on April 8th. On May 13th Obama introduced the document for ratification to the Senate.

The document includes large reductions of strategic offensive arms. In seven years the parties intend to reduce the total number of warheads by one third (up to 1.55 thousand) in comparison with Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction of 2002, as well as to reduce the ultimate level of strategic delivery weapon more than by two times.

At the end of March, not long before signing the document, John Kerry, the Head of the U.S. Senate International Committee, promised to give it all his effort to hasten the process of the START ratification. Kerry believes that the new treaty would be supported by representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties. The Senator said that Richard Lugar, the Committee Vice-Chairman and Republican Senator, also highly appreciates the document and promises to support the party members while its ratification.


The President also called on the Republican senators to work with him on the immigration system reform and on a new bill of the energy sector. “As for the energy industry, the President told the participants of the conference that the accident in the oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico shall strengthen the sense of urgent development of new and clean energy sources that will help to ensure the independence of the United States in the energy sector and will facilitate to the well paid work creation”, the document states.