In a televised interview on Friday, Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev praised President Obama for winning support for an arms treaty with Russia. ReutersNew START Treaty Gets Preliminary OK In Russia Parliament -- L.A. Times
After just a few hours of debate, the lower house of Russia's parliament on Friday gave overwhelming preliminary approval to the New START arms treaty with the United States. The vote set the stage for its likely easy approval in the new year.
Lawmakers in the State Duma voted 350-59 to approve the treaty on its first reading. Two more votes in the lower house, on the second and third readings, and balloting in the upper house were put off until January.
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More News On Russian Approval For The START Treaty
Russian parliament tentatively approves arms pact -- Yahoo News/AP
Russian parliament backs US nuclear treaty -- Yahoo News/AFP
Russia pushes toward approval of nuclear arms pact -- Yahoo News/Reuters
START gets initial approval in Russia -- CNN
Russia Gives Preliminary Approval to Nuclear Pact -- Voice of America
Russian MPs back Start US arms treaty on first reading -- BBC
Medvedev Praises Obama for Treaty -- New York Times
Russian president lauds U.S. passage of nuclear arms treaty -- CNN
My Comment: As expected, the media is portraying this as a political win for President Obama and a process that will insure better U.S. - Russian ties. But what has been ignored, are Russian objections to the additional terms that President Obama agreed to in order to get Republican Senate support. From where I am standing, this is not over yet.