Russian membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is essential for the USA, US Deputy Secretary of State Daniel Russell, supervisor of Russian affairs, said, RIA Novosti reports.
Russell said that Russia had ended all the major bilateral problems with the USA and EU at the presidents’ meeting last summer and is currently working on trade issues. However, some participants of discussions say that the corruption level in Russia is still high.
The US official said that their key goal is to introduce Russia to an economic system based on law.
Russia has been striving for WTO membership for 17 years. The Russian economy is one of the world’s leading ones. Its membership requires the approval of 153 members. The recent summit in Brussels shows that Russia has a chance of joining the WTO in 2011.
