U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, saying that Russia has taken "significant steps" toward joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). The call comes after the June 24 meeting in Washington between Obama and Medvedev, where the two leaders set September 30 as a deadline for Russian and U.S. negotiators to resolve remaining bilateral issues that would pave the way for Russia's entry to the WTO. "By passing major pieces of legislation, including major amendments to laws which govern the effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), the Russian government has taken and continues to take significant steps to meet bilateral commitments and to accelerating multilateral negotiations on Russia's WTO accession," the White House said through a statement from their press office. "President Obama pledged to support Russia's efforts to complete remaining steps in multilateral negotiations so that Russia could join the WTO as soon as possible. The President also noted the importance of continued enhancement of bilateral trade relations in areas such as enforcement of intellectual property rights and agricultural trade," the statement said. The leaders also discussed their interest in getting legislative approval in both of their countries of the new START treaty before the end of the year.
