Vote on new strategic arms reduction treaty passes 71-26 after 13 Republicans and two independents vote with Democrats

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

The US Senate ratified an arms control treaty with Russia today that reduces the number of both countries' nuclear weapons, giving President Barack Obama a major foreign policy success in the closing hours of the outgoing session of the current Congress.

Thirteen Republicans broke with their top representatives in the upper house and joined 56 Democrats and two independents to provide the necessary two-thirds vote to approve the treaty. The vote was 71-26.

The accord, which still must be approved by Russia, would restart weapons inspections as successors to President Ronald Reagan have embraced his edict of "trust, but verify".

The vice president, Joe Biden, presided over the Senate and announced the vote. The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, observed the vote from the Senate floor. Both had lobbied vigorously for the treaty's approval.

"The question is whether we move the world a little out of the dark shadow of nuclear nightmare," the foreign relations committee chairman, John Kerry, said moments before the vote.

Calling the treaty a national security imperative, Obama had pressed for its approval before a new, more Republican Congress assumes power in January.

The Obama administration has argued that the United States must show credibility in its improved relations with its former cold war foe, and that the treaty was critical to any rapprochement. The White House is counting on Russia to help pressure Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

The new strategic arms reduction treaty (Start) – signed by Obama and the Russian resident, Dmitry Medvedev, in April – would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would establish a system for monitoring and verification. US weapons inspections ended last year with the expiry of a 1991 treaty.

Obama overcame the opposition of the Senate's top two Republicans – the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, and Jon Kyl, the party's point man on the treaty.

Peeved by the Democrats' interruption of the eight days of treaty debate for other legislation, McConnell accused the White House of politicising the process.

McConnell said national security was the main concern, "not some politician's desire to declare a political victory and hold a press conference before the first of the year".

The ratification was a turnaround for a treaty whose fate was uncertain just a month ago. Conservatives had claimed that the pact would limit US options on missile defence, lacked sufficient procedures to verify Russia's adherence and deserved more time for consideration.

Republican senator Mark Kirk, who won Obama's Senate seat, dismissed the treaty for imposing "marginal reductions in the Russian arsenal".

The fierce opposition diminished quickly as former presidents George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton, six former Republican secretaries of state and many of the nation's military and foreign policy experts called for the treaty's ratification.

The defence secretary, Robert Gates, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff , Admiral Mike Mullen, pressed for approval, with Mullen telling senators earlier this week, "the sooner, the better".