Obama fights to save nuclear arms deal

The Obama administration has mounted a drive to salvage its set piece arms control deal with Russia and shore up its authority on the world stage.

On a visit to the US Capitol to drum up votes among recalcitrant Republicans, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, warned on Wednesday that failure to ratify the new Start treaty this year would put the country at risk from the “continuing threat” posed by Russian nuclear weapons.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, later added he was “extremely concerned” no treaty was yet in place.

The deal is at the heart of President Barack Obama’s nuclear non-proliferation agenda and his initiative to improve relations with Russia. Its collapse could also sap confidence in the president’s ability to conclude international agreements.

But an administration offer of $4.1bn to modernise the US’s nuclear stockpile, in addition to an $80bn modernisation plan for the next decade, has failed to win sufficient support among Republicans. Officials do not exclude offering still more funds to get the treaty through.

Republican resistance highlights the limits of the administration’s sway after heavy losses by the Democrats in this month’s midterm elections. It also comes as Mr Obama is struggling to achieve his goals in the Middle East peace process, in Afghanistan and on international economics and trade.

“What is really at stake is the president’s ability to make foreign policy,” said Zbigniew Brzezinski, former US national security adviser. “Obama’s credibility as foreign policymaker has been somewhat undermined by the gap between his public stance and the relative absence of a follow through.”

Months of talks with Republicans – who hold the fate of the treaty in their hands – were thrown into disarray this week when Jon Kyl, the number two Republican in the Senate, said he did not think it could be ratified this year.

Republican aides said Mr Kyl was willing to keep talking to the administration but had made clear the Senate’s lame duck session lacked time to deal with the “complex and unresolved” issues of the treaty and nuclear modernisation. Ratification could be still more difficult next year because of the decline in the Senate’s Democratic ranks from 58 to 52. A treaty needs 67 votes to be ratified.

Mrs Clinton stressed the deal would put nuclear inspectors back in place in Russia. “We need the stability, transparency and predictability that new Start will provide by giving us insight into Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal,” she said. “For anyone to think that we can postpone it or we can avoid it is, I am afraid, vastly underestimating the continuing threat that is posed to our country.”

She cited the support of Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the Senate foreign relations committee. The White House said it believed it would have enough votes to pass the deal. But many Republicans say they defer to the judgment of Mr Kyl, and Senate aides said his position had not changed.

“If the administration turns this into a success, the momentum will change back,” said Steve Clemons at the New America Foundation. “But right now everyone around the world is testing what the real limits of US power and intentions are.”