MOSCOW (AP) - A top U.S. trade envoy said Saturday that talks on Russian membership in the World Trade Organization could enter their final stretch early next year, but that the government must overcome several obstacles before it can join, news reports said.Trade Representative Robert Zoellick met with top Russian officials Friday and Saturday for talks that focused on Russia's 6-year-old efforts to join the 142-nation WTO. (Read photo caption)
At the end of the visit he said talks on Russian membership could reach ``the final stage'' in early 2002, the Russian news agencies Interfax and ITAR-Tass reported.
One of several obstacles to WTO membership is Washington's refusal to recognize Russia as a market economy. The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday said it had received the Russian petition to be included in the list of market economies worldwide.
Zoellick promised Saturday that the United States would soon consider the petition, the Russian government statement said.
Zoellick thanked the Kremlin for backing Washington's campaign against terrorism, but insisted that U.S. support for Russian WTO membership should not be seen as a reward for its backing of the United States after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
Until recently, the United States had been more cautious in its support of eventual Russian membership in the WTO, maintaining the country needed deeper economic reforms.
During his Moscow visit, which ended Saturday, Zoellick also met with Economics and Trade Minister German Gref, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and presidential economic adviser Andrei Illarionov.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, left, greets U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick during their meeting in Moscow, Friday, Sept. 28, 2001. Zoellick on Friday talked to the Russian government about its bid to join the World Trade Organization, the complex negotiations which some say have been bolstered by Russia's support for U.S.-led anti-terrorist coalition. (AP Photo/Ivan Skretarev)