A U.S. Senate panel on Thursday approved the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, marking a victory for President Barack Obama who seeks its ratification this year.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved in a 14-4 vote the New START treaty, clearing the way for a vote on the Senate floor. Committee Chairman John Kerry told reporters that a final ratification would take place after the Nov. 2 mid-term elections. As to the prospective of passage, he said "I personally believe we will have the votes to ratify this."

For the New START to clear the Senate, a majority of 67 votes are needed, yet the Democrats control only 59 seats. Only two of the 41 Republican senators have openly voiced their support for the treaty.

Republican leaders have said they are in no rush to vote on New START. In addition to wanting more time to review the treaty, they have been seeking more money for maintaining the nuclear weapons stockpile and modernizing the production complex.

From Obama's perspective, waiting until after the elections could make ratification more difficult. Polls suggest that Democrats may lose control of the Senate. U.S. military leaders say there are significant national security reasons to proceed expeditiously to ratification, such as closing the current gap in on-site inspections.

"If we don't get the treaty, (the Russians) are not constrained in their development of force structure and we have no insight into what they're doing. So it's the worst of both possible worlds, " General Kevin Chilton, U.S. Strategic Command commander testified June 16 before the Senate panel.

The new START treaty, signed on April 8 in Prague by President Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, replaces the 1991 pact that expired in December last year. The treaty stipulates that the number of nuclear warheads be reduced to 1,550 on each side over seven years, while the number of delivery vehicles, both deployed and non-deployed, must not exceed 800.

The U.S. and Russian presidents agreed that the ratification process should be simultaneous.