U.S.-Russia arms pact clears key hurdle in Russia MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States on Friday, supporting ratification of the New START pact in the first of three required votes. feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/PoliticsNews/~3/iT7LnnDrtOA/idUSTRE6BM0X120101224