The Russian Parliament on Tuesday ratified a historic nuclear arms pact with the United States that was approved by the U.S. Senate last month.
The State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian legislature, approved the New Start treaty by 350 votes with 96 deputies voting against and one abstaining.
The New Start would limit each country to 1,550 strategic warheads, down from the current ceiling of 2,200, as well as re-establish a system for monitoring that lapsed when a previous arms control pact expired a year ago.
Russian legislators set conditions for the implementation of the New Start that countered point-by-point the conditions contained in the U.S. Senate ratification resolution. The Russian ratification law said Russia could withdraw from the pact if the U.S. builds a global missile shield or deploys new non-nuclear strategic weapons.
The New Start is expected to be endorsed by the Federation Council, the Upper House of the Russian Parliament, on Wednesday.
The 10-year treaty will go into effect after the two sides exchange the ratification instruments.
