The Obama administration is ramping up calls for Senate ratification of an arms reduction treaty with Russia amidst growing Republican opposition. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, calls for the United States and Russia to cut their deployed arsenals to 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missile silos and bombers each. Republicans want a ratification vote delayed until next year, when Democrats will have a harder time obtaining enough votes with a reduced Senate majority. Shortly before departing for the NATO summit in Portugal, President Obama launched a new push for Senate approval by hosting a meeting with top Republican figures including former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James Baker.

President Obama: “This is not a matter that can be delayed. Every month that goes by without a treaty means that we are not able to verify what’s going on on the ground in Russia. And if we delay indefinitely, America’s leadership on nonproliferation and America’s national security will be weakened.”