MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament ratified a landmark treaty with the United States on Wednesday for the former superpower rivals to slash their strategic nuclear arsenals.The State Duma, after a debate behind closed doors, approved the so-called Treaty of Moscow under which the United States and Russia will cut stocks of deployed strategic nuclear warheads by two-thirds to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads over 10 years, Gennady Raykov, a Duma deputy said.
Deputies voted in favor, 294-134.
President Vladimir Putin, who signed the treaty with President Bush in May 2002, urged the Duma on Tuesday to approve the accord which he described as "an extremely important document in the field of strategic stability."
The treaty has already been ratified by the U.S. Congress.
Both sides wanted it to pass through their parliaments in time for summit talks between Putin and Bush in St Petersburg on June 1. The Duma vote coincided with a visit to Moscow by Secretary of State Colin Powell to prepare for the summit.
In St. Petersburg, Putin and Bush will seek to show that good relations are still on track despite divisions over the Iraqi war and lingering differences over Russian nuclear technology sales to Iran.
