The U.S. is trying to get Russia accepted into the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of the year, a top White House official said on Friday.
“It’s not a gift to Russia. We think it’s in our national interest,” Michael McFaul, senior director of Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the United States National Security Council, said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Russia, the only large economy outside the global trade club, has been negotiating its entry into the WTO for 17 years.
McFaul said that Russia’s entry into the WTO would make its economy stronger and more transparent. This, he said, would be good for the U.S.
WASHINGTON, April 15 (RIA Novosti)