New Start nuclear arms treaty 'headed for ratification'

The New Start nuclear treaty between the US and Russia has cleared a key procedural hurdle in the US Senate and now looks set to be ratified, BBC News reported.

Senators voted to end debate on the issue, clearing the way for a final vote on the treaty, set for Wednesday.

Ratification would be a victory for President Barack Obama and the Democrats, who have pushed hard for it.

Some Republican senators oppose the treaty on a variety of grounds, though Mr Obama has called it crucial.

"We are on the brink of writing the next chapter in the 40-year history of wrestling with the threat of nuclear weapons," Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, said after the vote.

The 67 votes in favour of the parliamentary motion to end debate puts the treaty above the threshold needed for ratification at the final ballot, and Mr Kerry said he expected as many as 70 votes.

"In our nation's security interest we need a New Start treaty now," Republican Richard Lugar told reporters, dismissing the calls from others in his party to hold more hearings next year.

The New Start treaty would trim US and Russian arsenals to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads - a cut of about 30% from a limit set eight years ago. It would also allow each side visually to inspect the other's nuclear arsenal to verify how many warheads a missile carries.