Russia

Moscow is pushing hard to hammer out a deal with Washington on WTO membership before the U.S. presidential election in November, Russian negotiators said.

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and the Russian Economy Development and Trade Minister German Gref have signed today the agreement concluding the bilateral market access negotiations for the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO, in the presence of the European Commission President Romano Prodi, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the European Council Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.