Washington, Dhu Al-Hijjah 25, 1431, Dec 01, 2010, SPA -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday reiterated his call for the U.S. Senate to ratify a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia, calling it “absolutely essential” to national security. Obama said among the issues he discussed in a White House meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders was the need to win approval of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The U.S. president has pledged to make ratification of the treaty a top priority for the remaining weeks of the current session of Congress, which ends in early January, but Republican opponents have shown no indication of removing obstacles. “I reminded the room that this treaty’s been vetted for seven months now. It’s gone through 18 hearings. It has support from senators from both [political] parties. It has broad bipartisan support,” Obama told reporters after the meeting with lawmakers. “It’s absolutely essential to our national security. We need to get it done.” Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the agreement in April, committing the two nuclear powers to cutting deployed nuclear weapons by as much as 30 percent-to a maximum of 1,550-in seven years. --SPA 13:43 LOCAL TIME 10:43 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/841114