41.   Mrs. Hjelm-Wallen and representatives of other governments welcomed U.S. Senate ratification of the strategic arms reduction treaty START II and urged Russia to follow suit quickly.

42.   Moscow, the critics said, would retaliate by refusing to ratify a nuclear weapons reduction treaty with Washington.

43.   President Boris Yeltsin and top officials in his government pressed their attack on reluctant lawmakers Monday, pushing for speedy ratification of the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty.

44.   President Boris Yeltsin on Friday again stressed his support for the START-II arms reduction treaty, which the Russian parliament has so far refused to ratify.

45.   President Boris Yeltsin has no immediate plans to meet with U.S. President Bill Clinton to discuss a new strategic arms reduction treaty, the Russian presidential spokesman said Monday.

46.   Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev this spring threatened to ignore conventional arms reduction treaties if NATO admits Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

47.   Putin and Bush weighed in on the conflict one day after they signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty and pledged to begin a new era of cooperation.

48.   Ronald Reagan devoted considerable time and energy in his second term to nuclear-weapons reduction treaties with the Soviet Union.

49.   Sergeyev and other military leaders have urged parliament to speed up the long-stalled ratification of the START II arms reduction treaty with the United States.

50.   Russian lawmakers told visiting U.S. Senator Sam Nunn on Monday that parliament needs to hold hearings on START II and suggested amending the arms reduction treaty.