Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 24 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
One should not expect START to be ratified in the Russian State Duma in December, Sergei Markov, a member of the State Duma from the ruling party United Russia, said.
"This document requires careful consideration, especially in the U.S. Senate resolution to START. The Russian State Duma is not the office for stamping. The new START treaty will be discussed in details at least during the three sessions of the Parliament, Markov told Trend over phone from Moscow.
Yesterday Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, said that the Duma may ratify a new Russian-U.S Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms (START) on Friday.
The United States Senate ratified on Wednesday the new START treaty signed between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S President Barack Obama in April 2010, with a vote of 71 for and 26 against.
MP Markov said that MPs will request and carefully study the resolution before the procedure of START ratification was launched. The Congress has emphasized some points requiring the Russian side's reaction. There must not be any haste in ratifying the treaty, he said.
He said that START is likely to be ratified in the Duma after the holidays. The first meeting will be held on January 11, he said.
"In general, the likelihood of START ratification is very high. Now it is possible to predict how the fractions will vote in the Russian Parliament. "United Russia" will vote for ratification, the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party - against," he said.
However, the contract will be passed through the Duma in this situation, he said.