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2 Republicans Hint at Hope for Russia Pact

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s hopes of winning Senate approval for a new arms control treaty with Russia by the end of the year were encouraged on Tuesday by two Republican senators, including John McCain.

Mr. McCain, one of his party’s leading voices on national security, said he thought that Republican concerns over missile defense and nuclear modernization could be resolved in time to vote on the so-called New Start treaty during the lame-duck session of Congress this month, as Mr. Obama has sought.

President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia warned Tuesday that a failure by Russia and the West to reach agreement on missile defense cooperation could provoke a new arms race. In the absence of such cooperation, Mr. Medvedev said, Russia would be prepared to deploy “new means of attack.”

Missile defense has been among Republicans’ concerns with the treaty, which Mr. Obama has called his top foreign policy priority for the Congressional session. Mr. McCain and others have expressed concern that the treaty would limit deployment of a missile shield in Europe, although the pact would not directly restrict any current plans. During a NATO summit meeting in Lisbon this month, Mr. Obama invited Mr. Medvedev to explore participating in the missile defense system.

The treaty has also been stalled by Senator Jon Kyl, Mr. McCain’s colleague from Arizona and the lead Republican negotiator, who has sought assurances that the Obama administration is sufficiently committed to modernizing the nation’s aging nuclear complex even as it reduces the arsenal. Mr. McCain’s comments on Tuesday seemed to signal that a deal should be made in the coming weeks.

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Senator John McCain, at a luncheon on Tuesday, said “attempts are being made to address” concerns about the treaty.Credit...Alex Wong/Getty Images

“I believe that we could move forward with the Start treaty and satisfy Senator Kyl’s concerns and mine about missile defense and others, and I hope that we can do that,” Mr. McCain said on “Good Morning America” on ABC. Asked if he meant this year, he added: “I would hope so. But Senator Kyl’s concerns are very legitimate, and I think that attempts are being made to address them.”

Another Senate Republican, George V. Voinovich of Ohio, also indicated for the first time that he might vote for the treaty. Mr. Voinovich told The Wall Street Journal that his concerns about Russia’s dominance of its neighbors were assuaged by statements of support for the treaty by Eastern European leaders at the NATO summit meeting.

“There seems to be a lot of coming together there and a lot more comfort among our friends and allies in Europe,” Mr. Voinovich said. “I think I’d be supportive.”

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, also suggested that the treaty’s chances were improving. “I believe personally that we can do it,” he said on Tuesday at a forum sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine. “I think we will get it done, providing a few small pieces come together in the next few days.”

Mr. Obama brought up the treaty on Tuesday during a White House meeting with Congressional leaders, pressing them to vote this month to strengthen the relationship with Russia. “It’s absolutely essential to our national security,” the president said. “We need to get it done.”

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, did not rule out a vote on the treaty, but said it could be called only after the parties agreed on tax cuts and a temporary spending measure. To have enough time for the treaty, he said, Democratic priorities for the lame-duck session would have to be tabled, like legislation on immigration and gays in the military.

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President Dmitry A. Medvedev of Russia during his annual state-of-the-nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday.Credit...Natalia Kolesnikova/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Further complicating the debate over the arms control treaty was a report in The Wall Street Journal about Russia’s having moved short-range tactical nuclear warheads to sites near NATO allies last spring in response to the deployment of American and NATO missile defense installations close to its territory. The moves had been reported before, but the new attention could embolden critics of the treaty. Mr. Kyl’s office sent a copy of the article to reporters on Tuesday, and Mr. McCain cited it in his television interview.

“I’m a little disturbed at the news this morning that tactical nuclear weapons have been moved closer to Europe by the Russians,” Mr. McCain said. “That is not directly related to the Start treaty, but certainly is an indication of the need to have verification.”

Two years ago, Mr. Medvedev warned the United States against plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, threatening to place short-range Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members. Responding to the article in The Journal, Nikolai Makarov, chief of the Russian military’s general staff, said Moscow had not moved missiles into Kaliningrad, but he left it unclear whether they had been moved to other border regions.

The New Start treaty covers long-range strategic nuclear weapons, not shorter-range tactical nuclear weapons. American and Russian officials have long planned to talk about limits on tactical weapons in a treaty that would follow the New Start pact.

Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said the report in The Journal showed that the United States needed the treaty ratified “precisely because we want to begin negotiating to reduce tactical nuclear weapons.” He added, “The Russians have refused to engage in a negotiation over these tactical nuclear weapons until we have a ratified, legally binding treaty that limits strategic nuclear weapons.”

Mr. Medvedev made his remarks on a potential new arms race during his annual state of the nation address. “The following alternatives await us in the next 10 years,” he said at the Kremlin. “Either we reach an agreement on missile defense and create a joint mechanism for cooperation, or, if we do not succeed in entering into a constructive understanding, there will begin a new arms race.”

The remarks were applauded by the audience, which included Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s paramount leader. At the Lisbon meeting, Mr. Medvedev had accepted NATO’s invitation to consider participating in a European missile defense system, but it was unclear what role Russia might play. His remarks, delivered in the clipped, aggressive style typically favored by the more hawkish Mr. Putin, appeared to signal that Russia’s participation was not unconditional.

Michael Schwirtz contributed reporting from Moscow.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: 2 Republicans Hint at Hope For Arms Pact With Russia. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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