U.S. and Russia Activate Treaty On Weapons.

MUNICH -- The United States and Russia on Saturday exchanged documents that formally activated New Start, a strategic arms control treaty. It was the final step in a protracted negotiation marked by difficult talks with the Russians and even more difficult talks with Republican holdouts in the Senate. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, traded so-called instruments of ratification -- paperwork that brings the treaty into force and starts the clock ticking on verification and inspection procedures for the two sides' nuclear arsenals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]