国际英语新闻：No need for simultaneous ratification of new START treaty: Kremlin

MOSCOW, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Moscow does not insist that the new strategic arms reduction treaty (START), to be signed in Prague on Thursday, should be ratified simultaneously by Russia and the United States, said a Russian presidential aide on Monday.

Sergei Prikhodko told reporters that Russia is convinced that the new treaty will be ratified by both countries.

"No task is being set to get the treaty ratified on the same day," he said.

"Our relations with the Americans are of a new quality. We trust each other a lot more than previously. We have no feeling we will be duped," he added.

"We don't doubt that the treaty will be ratified by the State Duma and the U.S. Congress. It reflects the degree of responsibility each signatory party bears."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama will sign the new document in the Czech capital of Prague on Thursday.

Under the new treaty, the warheads held by the two nuclear super powers will be reduced to 1,500, about 30 percent lower than the previous treaty's limitation.

The number of deployed and non-deployed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers, submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear weapons will be limited at 800, and the number of deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear weapons will be limited at 700.

Russia and the United States have been working on a new arms control deal since Medvedev and Obama met in April last year in an effort to "reset" their ties that sunk to post-Cold War lows under the Bush administration.

However, the two sides failed to reach a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) before it expired in December last year, with U.S. plans for a missile defense system being a major sticking point.

Representatives from Russia's Federation Council and the U.S. Senate will meet in Washington on April 19-21 to discuss the document's ratification.