Russia and the United States signed a bilateral deal today for Moscow's entry in the World Trade Organisation, removing the last major obstacle in Russia's 13-year-old bid to join the global trade body.
The agreement was signed by Russia's Economy Minister German Gref and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi.
The signing was timed to take place before a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush, who both took part in the APEC summit, today.
"Undoubtedly, this agreement is a very substantial milestone in the full integration of Russia into the global economy," Mr Gref told reporters after the signing ceremony.
Russia, the last major economy outside the 149-member trade body, would benefit from a "significant increase" in global trade after joining the world trade body, Mr Schwab said.
US business groups have welcomed the pact, which officials said removes long-standing Russian obstacles to US beef, pork and poultry exports and required Moscow to cut tariffs on a long list of agricultural and manufactured goods.
Russia has also agreed to open up its services sector and to combat piracy and counterfeiting of foreign goods.
Mr Gref told reporters yesterday personal contacts between Mr Putin and Mr Bush played a key role in speeding up the deal, the last and most difficult in a string of 56 similar agreements signed by Russia in the past six years.
"The next stage, multilateral talks, normally takes 6-8 months," Mr Gref said. "We would want to finalise the whole process by mid-2007," he said.
Mr Bush said after his summit with Mr Putin that the agreement "will be good for the United States and good for Russia."
The US-Russia deal could yet face a rough ride from the Democrat-led US Congress, although lawmakers do not have the power to block Russia's accession to the WTO.
Mr Schwab said granting permanent normal trade relations to Russia would be key for US businesses eyeing the country.
"The full integration of Russia into the global economy is in the interests of Russia. It is also in the interests of the United States," she told reporters.