(24 Dec 2010)
1. Wide of Russian State Duma (Russian Parliament) building
2. Mid of Russian flag on top of Duma
3. Wide of Duma session hall, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walking to podium
4. Mid of deputies listening to Lavrov
5. SOUNDITE (Russian) Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister:
"It is certain that the ratification and coming into force of the treaty is, in our view, one of the principal tasks of the state, yet it should be done in such a manner that there will be no doubts about our resolve to persistently pursue legitimate interests of the Russian federation and promote the agreements based on equality, taking into consideration of each other's interests, parity and, of course, the respect for international commitments."
6. Mid of cameramen
7. Mid of speaker of Russian State Duma, Boris Gryzlov (centre), and his deputies
8. Wide pan of deputies voting
9. Mid of deputies voting
10. Close-up of digital screen showing vote result
11. Mid of Russian Communist party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, speaking to media
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Gennady Zyuganov, Russian Communist party leader:
"It means the lessening of combat capacity and security, the worsening of the social atmosphere against the background of Kushchevka, the December uprising of Spartak football fans, and the large-scale accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station. As a whole, such a policy can not be supported."
13. Cutaway to cameramen
14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister:
"I am confident that had the American Senate made its decisions on the treaty ratification without accompanying the ratification with any resolutions, the State Duma would have done the same and it could have been done as early as yesterday."
15. Mid of Lavrov speaking to media
16. Wide interior of Russian Duma
STORYLINE:
Russia's lower house of parliament gave preliminary approval to a US-Russian arms treaty on Friday, but decided to delay the final vote until next month.
The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted 350-58 to approve the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) in the first of three required readings.
The legislators said they would proceed further after returning from the New Year's holiday that lasts until January 11.
The New START treaty, which was ratified on Wednesday by the US Senate, would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200.
It also would re-establish a system for monitoring and verification, which ended last year with the expiry of a previous arms control deal.
The pact is a centrepiece of US President Barack Obama's efforts to "reset" ties with Russia.
US Republicans had tried to kill the treaty by forcing changes in its language that would have sent it back for negotiations with Moscow.
US Democrats sought to appease some Republican senators by letting them raise these issues in legislation accompanying the treaty that would not directly affect the pact.
On Wednesday, two such amendments, one on missile defence and one on funding for the US nuclear arsenal, passed with support from both US parties.
Russian lawmakers said that the Duma will likely counter the US Senate legislation with legislation of its own.
Addressing legislators in both houses of the Russian parliament on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear that the Kremlin wants the pact ratified and signalled that lawmakers could add statements countering the US Senate's legislation accompanying the treaty.
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