30/11/2010 (Agence Europe) -Ashton supports ratification of START treaty. On Tuesday 30 November, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton made clear her support for ratification of the new strategic arms reduction treaty (START) signed between the United States and Russia on 8 April. Ratification is by no means a foregone conclusion with Republican elected representatives still opposing it. The United States and Russia, “which possess 95 % of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons, now have the historic opportunity to follow up their international commitments and to enhance security by reducing the number of deployed strategic warheads,” Ashton says in a statement. She goes on to say that the European Union, which has long stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to all these issues, “gives its full support” to efforts of the governments of the United States and Russia and looks forward to the “swift ratification and implementation of the new START treaty”. (A.By./transl.rt)