Obama pushes for Russian entry to World Trade Organization

Jun 24, 2010, 19:45 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama Thursday signalled his strong commitment to working for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.

The WTO issue was high on the agenda of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who joined Obama for a press conference after a morning of meetings and lunch at a Virginia hamburger restaurant.

Obama said he had 'reaffirmed a strong commitment' to Russia's entry into the WTO in the meetings. As a symbol of Russia's 'seriousness' about joining, Obama cited Russia's agreement to allow US poultry imports into the country.

'Russia belongs in the World Trade Organization. It's good for Russia, good for America and good for the world economy,' Obama said.

The focus of Thursday's meetings was economic and trade cooperation after months of strong cooperation in the security sector, which saw adoption of a New Start Treaty on nuclear disarmament and agreement on new sets of sanctions against both North Korea and Iran.

The New Start treaty has not yet been adopted by the respective legislatures, and the two men said pushing for approval was high on their agendas.