Russia Hopes for U.S. Support in its WTO Bid, Says Medvedev

GORKI (Moscow Province), May 25 (RIA Novosti)

Russia is counting on support from the U.S. political and business community in joining the World Trade Organization, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

"Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization would significantly alter the general atmosphere. We would like this and we hope that the U.S. government, the U.S. administration and business community will throw their support behind this idea, because we are tired of sitting in the waiting room trying to join this organization," he said.

Russia has been in negotiations to enter the WTO for over 16 years, and is the only major economy outside of the global trade body.

"We have been trying to join it longer than the Chinese did, although our economy is smaller and we generally have sufficiently open rules, understandable to all," Medvedev said.

He admitted Russia still had problems with intellectual property rights protection, a major impediment to WTO accession, but vowed to tackle them, adding it was a priority for the Russian government.

In June 2009, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus notified the WTO of their intention to join the world trade club as a customs union.

Four months later, the three former Soviet republics announced they would resume talks on WTO accession separately, but working from synchronized positions.

Ahmadinejad Displeased with Medvedev's Unfriendly Remarks

TEHRAN (FNA), May 26, 2010-

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday warned his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to revise his unfriendly remarks and policies against Iran.

"Today, it has become difficult for us to explain Medvedev's behavior to the Iranian nation. People do not know if they are our friends, beside us, with us or they are after other things," Ahmadinejad said, addressing people in the southeastern city of Kerman today.

"If I were the Russian president, I would contemplate more when uttering comments and making decisions on issues related to the great and civilization-making Iranian nation," he added.

Ahmadinejad also advised Russian leaders to avoid unfriendly remarks and actions when dealing with Iran, warning that such words would make the Iranian nation assume Russians as among their historical enemies.

The President regretted that Russia, as a neighbor of Iran, has sided with those enemies of the Islamic Republic who have stood against the Iranian nation with their maximum power for the last 30 years, and expressed the hope that Russians would change their position and take the opportunity created by the 'Tehran Declaration' on the nuclear fuel swap between Iran and the potential suppliers.

A majority of the international community has voiced support for the Declaration which was signed by senior Iranian, Turkish and Brazilian officials in Tehran last week and envisages sending some 1200 kg of Iran's 3.5% enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total 120 kg of 20% enriched fuel.

Based on the Tehran agreement, the fuel swap will take place nearly a month after receiving an official approval from the Vienna Group, which consists of representatives from potential suppliers - France, Russia and the US - and the IAEA as the world's nuclear arbitration and supervision body.

After the Tehran Declaration was issued last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote letters to 26 world leaders to brief them over the breakthrough agreement.

Independent countries, like Kenya, Kuwait, Japan, Uruguay and Mexico as well as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have all hailed the move.

A number of EU officials have also voiced preparedness to start talks with Iran on the basis of the Tehran Declaration.

The Tehran Declaration is widely seen as a diplomatic initiative which would end the long-stalled nuclear deal between Tehran and potential western suppliers, but Washington has not yet shown a proper response to the epoch-making agreement, and has, instead, introduced a draft sanctions resolution against Iran to the UN Security Council.

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