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Russia's Gref hails WTO accession deal with U.S. as "historic"
Hanoi, Vietnam (RIA Novosti) - Russia's economics minister on Sunday hailed the signing of a final protocol on the country's accession to the World Trade Organization with the United States as a "historic step," one that would help it integrate into the global economy.

German Gref and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese capital, paving the way for Russia's entry into the world's largest trade body.

"This is a historic, ultimate step, which heralds Russia's return onto the market track, to equal competition on the world market," Gref told reporters after the signing ceremony.

He said Russia will make every effort to protect intellectual property rights, one of the major issues to have impeded the deal, along with restrictions on U.S. meat exports and on the access of American companies to the Russian banking and insurance sectors.

"All our actions will be aimed at creating favorable conditions that would ensure maximum protection for copyright holders," he said.

Russia has signed a binding blueprint for measures to improve copyright protection and to stop piracy and counterfeiting of foreign goods before it joins the WTO.

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U.S. to facilitate Russia's entry into WTO - Lavrov
Hanoi, Vietnam (RIA Novosti) - The United States will contribute to the quickest completion of Russia's talks on its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Russian foreign minister said Sunday.

Russia and the United States signed November 19 a final protocol on bilateral terms, paving the way for Moscow's accession to the world trade club. The document was signed by Russia's Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab at a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization in Hanoi.

"Multilateral negotiations are the concluding stage of talks on Russia's entry into the WTO and we count on the assurances by U.S. President George Bush who stressed the intention to contribute in every possible way to their quickest conclusion," Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting between the Russian and U.S. presidents.

By signing the protocol with the United States, Russia has concluded all bilateral talks and removed the last major obstacle on its accession to the world's largest trade body.

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Russia-U.S. WTO protocol conducive for mutual trade - Putin
Hanoi, Vietnam (RIA Novosti) - A bilateral protocol signed by Russia and the United States on Russia's entry into the world trade club creates good conditions for bilateral relations, President Vladimir Putin said Sunday.

Russia and the United States signed November 19 a final bilateral protocol on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) at a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization in Hanoi.

"It [the protocol] also creates good conditions for trade with our partners and for mutual trade," Putin said after a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Putin said the period of work on the document had been difficult and long.

"We worked on it for five years and today this process has been successfully concluded. I want to stress that this would have been impossible without goodwill and professionalism and a business-like approach to the highest degree. This would have been impossible without the U.S. president's political will," Putin said.

The U.S. president said the agreement was beneficial for the United States and Russia, adding that a positive step for both countries and the international community as a whole had been made.

The U.S. president said he had also discussed the North Korea and Iran issues with President Putin.

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