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US supports Russia's WTO entry
US President Barack Obama has extended his full support to Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation, saying that it would deepen Moscow's integration into the global economy.
"I believe that Russia belongs in the WTO. That's good for Russia. It's good for America. And it is good for the world economy," Obama said at the US-Russia Business Summit held at the US Chamber of Commerce here.
"To deepen Russia's integration into the global economy, I reaffirmed our strong commitment to Russia's ascension to the World Trade Organisation," Obama said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
Announcing that Moscow would now allow the US to begin exporting its poultry products to Russia once again, Obama said: "I want to thank President Medvedev and his team for resolving this issue, which is of such importance to American business and which sends an important signal about Russia's seriousness about achieving membership in the WTO."
"Therefore, I told President Medvedev that our teams should accelerate their efforts to work together to complete this process in the very near future. Russia belongs in the WTO. That's good for Russia, it's good for America, and it's good for the world economy," he said.
Responding to a question, Obama said: "We think it is not only in the interests of the Russian Federation, but in the interest of the United States and in the interest of the world that Russia joins the WTO. So this is something that we want to get resolved."
When asked about the time frame, he said: "Let me give you a sense of perspective from our US trade representative, Ron Kirk, who has been in close contact and negotiations with his counterparts on the Russian side. The way he described it is that 90 per cent, 95 per cent of the issues have now been resolved."
"Now, in our joint statement, what we are going to essentially instruct our negotiators is that they try to come to terms with the technical issues that remain by the fall.
We are going to keep putting pressure on negotiators in the same way that we did during the START treaty, so that there's a sense of urgency on the part of our team," he said.
"A lot of the technical issues, the resolution of those technical issues, though, may be in the hands of the Russian government.
We've already made progress on some issues like encryption, for example. There may be certain international standards that require modifications in Russian law," Obama said.
"So as much as possible, what I've told my team is, we are going to do everything we can to get this done as quickly as possible, and we will be very specific and very clear about the technical issues that Russia still faces, and Russia then will act in accordance with its needs and requirements internally to meet the demands of the WTO in order to get this done."
"But I'm confident that we can get this completed. And I am confident that President Medvedev and his vision for an innovative, modernised, energised economy are entirely consistent with Russia's joining the WTO," Obama said.
US supports Russia's WTO entry - US - World - The Times of India
US President Barack Obama has extended his full support to Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation, saying that it would deepen Moscow's integration into the global economy.
"I believe that Russia belongs in the WTO. That's good for Russia. It's good for America. And it is good for the world economy," Obama said at the US-Russia Business Summit held at the US Chamber of Commerce here.
"To deepen Russia's integration into the global economy, I reaffirmed our strong commitment to Russia's ascension to the World Trade Organisation," Obama said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
Announcing that Moscow would now allow the US to begin exporting its poultry products to Russia once again, Obama said: "I want to thank President Medvedev and his team for resolving this issue, which is of such importance to American business and which sends an important signal about Russia's seriousness about achieving membership in the WTO."
"Therefore, I told President Medvedev that our teams should accelerate their efforts to work together to complete this process in the very near future. Russia belongs in the WTO. That's good for Russia, it's good for America, and it's good for the world economy," he said.
Responding to a question, Obama said: "We think it is not only in the interests of the Russian Federation, but in the interest of the United States and in the interest of the world that Russia joins the WTO. So this is something that we want to get resolved."
When asked about the time frame, he said: "Let me give you a sense of perspective from our US trade representative, Ron Kirk, who has been in close contact and negotiations with his counterparts on the Russian side. The way he described it is that 90 per cent, 95 per cent of the issues have now been resolved."
"Now, in our joint statement, what we are going to essentially instruct our negotiators is that they try to come to terms with the technical issues that remain by the fall.
We are going to keep putting pressure on negotiators in the same way that we did during the START treaty, so that there's a sense of urgency on the part of our team," he said.
"A lot of the technical issues, the resolution of those technical issues, though, may be in the hands of the Russian government.
We've already made progress on some issues like encryption, for example. There may be certain international standards that require modifications in Russian law," Obama said.
"So as much as possible, what I've told my team is, we are going to do everything we can to get this done as quickly as possible, and we will be very specific and very clear about the technical issues that Russia still faces, and Russia then will act in accordance with its needs and requirements internally to meet the demands of the WTO in order to get this done."
"But I'm confident that we can get this completed. And I am confident that President Medvedev and his vision for an innovative, modernised, energised economy are entirely consistent with Russia's joining the WTO," Obama said.
US supports Russia's WTO entry - US - World - The Times of India
