Washington, US President Barack Obama Friday called his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and congratulated him on Russia's accession into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the White House said in a statement. "President Obama spoke with Russian President Medvedev today to congratulate him on the World Trade Organisation's decision to extend a formal invitation to Russia to join the WTO," Xinhua quoted the statement as saying. The two leaders hailed Russia's accession into the global trade organisation as "yet another result of the reset in bilateral relations," said the statement, noting that it will benefit both countries. "Russia's membership in the WTO will lower tariffs, improve access to Russia's services markets, hold the Russian government accountable to a system of rules governing trade behaviour, and provide the means to enforce those rules," it added. The White House also said that Russia's membership in the WTO will generate more export opportunities for US manufacturers and farmers. The telephone call came after a ministerial meeting of the WTO in Geneva Friday formally adopted the accession agreement of the Russia Federation, drawing a finishing ...
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Moscow, India and Russia today signed five agreements including on defence, health and education, and resolved to carry forward bilateral cooperation to strengthen their strategic partnership for meeting future global challenges. No agreement on Kudankulam nuclear power reactors 3 and 4 was signed, as anticipated. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who led their respective sides at the 12th India-Russia Summit, signed a Joint Statement on strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries for meeting future global challenges including economic and political. The talks at the Kremlin, lasted for nearly three hours with a one-on-one first for two hours. The two leaders were later joined by their respective ...
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Brussels (Belgium), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Thursday said a European Parliament resolution calling for new State Duma elections "means nothing". "I have nothing to say on this resolution, because these are our elections. The European Parliament has no relation to them. They can comment on anything they want. I will not comment on their decisions as they mean nothing to me," the Russian president said at a joint press conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Russia's parliamentary parties have severely criticised the European Parliament's resolution, labelling it interference in the country's domestic affairs, Medvedev added. They have also demanded that it stop such ...
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Moscow, Seeking to enhance bilateral cooperation in nuclear, energy, defence and economic spheres, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after which both countries are to sign major deals in the fields of defence, health and science and technology. Singh, who arrived here Thursday evening, will visit Kremlin, the seat of power of the Russian Federation, for a meeting with Medvedev and later for delegation level talks, when a host of issues such as the Kundankulam nuclear power plant's units III and IV deal, comprehensive economic cooperation agreement and others are expected to figure and a slew of agreements are to be signed. The summit meeting comes at a time when Russia is witnessing public unrest over what the protesters allege is a fraud in the Duma elections held Dec 4, which left the ruling United Russia Party with a reduced majority in parliament. After the summit meeting, the prime minister will attend a India-Russia meeting of captains of industry, where hurdles relating to growth of bilateral trade, which hovers close to $10 billion, will be debated. The two countries have fixed a target of $20 ...
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Moscow, Russia's ruling party United Russia will have 238 seats in the new State Duma following the Dec 4 parliamentary elections, a top official has said. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation will have 92 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 56 and A Just Russia 64 seats, said Central Electoral Commission deputy head Leonid Ivlev. Turnout was 60.21 percent, he said. The result that came out Friday evening means Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party has lost 77 seats, but just retains a parliamentary majority. United Russia enjoyed a two-thirds majority in the previous parliament, giving it the ability to rewrite the Constitution at will. The elections were marred by allegations of widespread electoral fraud in favour of United Russia. President Dmitry Medvedev has said the claims need to be looked into. A protest rally to be held Saturday is expected to draw some 30,000 people in Moscow. The day after the election saw Moscow's largest opposition demonstration for over a decade, with around 5,000 people in attendance. ...
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Moscow, People who call for violence on the internet should be brought to justice, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said. Medvedev said Monday at a meeting with regional media that there cannot be any freedom "when calls to go and kill somebody are spilling from the internet and social networks". He said legal responsibility on the internet was a very complicated issue. "To establish legal responsibility for comments on the internet and social networks would mean to destroy the internet itself," he said. Russian Communication Minister Igor Shchegolev has said that internet censorship was "absolutely meaningless" since "the model of the internet is designed in a way that information inside it remains unsinkable and ...
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