Russia said on Thursday that it made progress in talks this week on its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and that a bilateral accord with Washington on entry looked more likely by the end of the year. "The meeting demonstrated that we are able to reach that goal," said Moscow's chief negotiator Maxim Medvedkov about an end-year target for a deal with the United States, which, like all WTO members, has the right to give its individual blessing. "And I am not excluding that it can be done earlier," he added. Russia, the largest economy still outside the 148-state trade body, is negotiating on two fronts -- with the full WTO on commercial rules and with any member state which has individual problems to resolve. On bilateral talks with the United States, held during two days of meetings in Geneva, Medvedkov said there had been an advance in discussions on services, notably in telecommunications and audio-visual matters, but that some banking and insurance issues needed further work. --More 0036 Local Time 2136 GMT
