Russia: Hands Off START Treaty

This weekend, Senate Republicans attempted to tinker with the START Treaty, a deal negotiated between President Obama and the Russian government that would reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals. Senate Democrats beat back the amendments, though, and on Monday Moscow warned that any successful changes would be a deal-breaker. The treaty “cannot be opened up and become the subject of new negotiations,” cautioned Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister. Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona quickly shot back, saying of going back to the negotiating table, “What’s wrong with that?” The Senate is planning a vote on Thursday that would cut off debate.