A spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) on Wednesday signaled optimism that that the Senate will move quickly to take up debate on ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia sooner than had been expected.

"The senator is hopeful we can get to it right away next week," Lugar spokesman Mark Helmke told RealClearPolitics.

President Obama has called ratification of the New START treaty a "top priority" for the lame-duck session of Congress, but the chances for quick ratification had appeared unlikely before the agreement with Republicans over extension of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts was announced.

"We're optimistic about the number of votes we're going to get," Helmke said.

Helmke said that Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had spoken to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about taking up debate on the treaty early next week but had not spoken about it with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Kyl has long been the Republican point-person on New START and has repeatedly said that the Senate would not get around to the issue in the lame-duck session.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), echoed Lugar's optimism that the votes were there for passage of the treaty, with or without Kyl's support.

"Nothing's easy for us right now, and it's been a battle to get this far," Manley told RealClearPolitics. "I believe that if we were to take the treaty to the floor, there are the votes here to ratify it."

Manley affirmed that Sen. Reid still intends to take the treaty to the floor but declined to set a schedule.

Lugar has long been a vocal advocate for New START and has made several optimistic statements about acquiring the 67 votes needed for ratification. But his suggestion that the treaty could come up next week appeared to reflect a new sense of confidence after the framework for a deal on taxes was reached.

Senate Republicans had previously vowed not to take up any additional legislation before coming to an agreement on taxes.

Speaking in the Oval Office after a bilateral meeting with Polish President Komorowski on Wednesday, Obama denied any linkage between New START and the taxes deal, saying the treaty needs to be ratified "on its own merits."

"I have discussed it with Senate Republican leader McConnell," Obama said. "I am confident that we are going to be able to get the START treaty on the floor, debated and completed before we break for the holidays."

The New START treaty would follow on the heals of previous nuclear arms reduction treaties between the U.S. and Russia by cutting the number of nuclear missile launchers and deployed strategic warheads in both countries and establishing verification regimes for compliance.

Proponents of the treaty -- including the vast majority of members of both parties' foreign policy establishments -- have advocated for quick passage, pointing to the current lack of inspections of Russia's nuclear arsenal.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty in April, but it needs to garner a two-thirds majority in the Senate and be passed in the Russian Duma, in order to be ratified.

--------------------------------------------
Follow the RCP Blog on Twitter.
Become a fan of RCP on Facebook.
--------------------------------------------