WASHINGTON — Chances faded Tuesday for Senate approval of a major nuclear-arms treaty with Russia this year, tripping up one of President Barack Obama’s top foreign-policy goals: improving relations with Moscow.
Obama has been pushing to get enough GOP support for a vote before the Democratic majority shrinks by six in January, and was optimistic just over the weekend about sealing perhaps his most significant foreign-policy achievement.
Part of the task included winning over Sen. Jon Kyl, the leading Republican senator on the New START agreement, who has demanded more funds for the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a condition for approving the treaty. The White House proposed adding $4.1 billion to modernize the arsenal, and officials traveled to Kyl’s home state to sell the pact, according to a congressional aide. But Kyl wasn’t sufficiently impressed.
In a statement Tuesday, Kyl said he didn’t think the issue should be considered this year, citing a busy Senate agenda and the complexity of the treaty. Democrats are unlikely to be able to move forward without his support.
The administration reacted swiftly, with Vice President Joe Biden warning that Senate failure to ratify the treaty would endanger the national security of the United States. Without ratification, Americans will have no way to verify Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal and cooperation would weaken between two nations that hold 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, he said.
