国际英语新闻：Obama redoubles efforts to push for Senate passage of nuke treaty with Russia

However, Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who is seen as key to winning enough support to ratify the treaty, said Tuesday that a deal did not seem possible in the lame-duck session of Congress, dealing a severe blow to the Obama administration.

At a White House meeting on Thursday, Obama stressed that "It is a national security imperative that the United States ratify the new START treaty this year. This is not about politics, it's about national security. This is not a matter that can be delayed." The meeting joined many current and former high-ranking officials who support the pact, including former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, James Baker and Henry Kissinger and former defense secretaries William Cohen and William Perry.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved in September the new START treaty, clearing the way for a vote on the Senate floor. The U.S. and Russian presidents had agreed that the ratification process should be simultaneous at U.S. Senate and Russia's Duma.

Obama's Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives to the opposition Republicans in the Nov. 2 mid-term elections but retained control of the Senate. On Monday, a lame-duck session of Congress begins until the start of the new Congress in January next year.

For the passage of the treaty in the Senate now, the Democrats need nine Republican votes for support. If delayed until next year when the new Congress opens, 14 Republican votes are needed.

In his weekly address, Obama said: "Bipartisan support for new START could not be stronger, it has been endorsed by Republicans from the Reagan administration and both Bush administrations."

"Some make no argument against the treaty -- they just ask for more time. But remember this: it has already been 11 months since we've had inspectors in Russia, and every day that goes by without ratification is a day that we lose confidence in our understanding of Russia's nuclear weapons."

While in Lisbon, Portugal on Friday for a NATO summit, Obama spared no efforts to win support among his foreign colleagues.

He told reporters there: "The message that I've received since I've arrived from my fellow leaders here at NATO could not be clearer: a new START will strengthen our alliance and it will strengthen European security."

The White House quoted German Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying: "We have to thank President Obama that he negotiated a new START treaty. I would wish that the new START treaty would also be ratified."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters: "I would strongly regret if the ratification of the START treaty is delayed. A delay of the ratification of the START treaty would be damaging to security in Europe. I strongly encourage all parties involved to do their utmost to ensure an early ratification of the START treaty."

Obama and other NATO leaders are scheduled to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday at a NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon.