Russia will try to finish paperwork on its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by this weekend for the signing of a deal with the United States, when leaders of the two countries meet in Vietnam, the economy minister said on Monday.

President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to meet with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush when they gather in Hanoi for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this weekend.

The government will do all it can to get a deal on Russia's accession to the WTO, which was expected to be signed by Putin and Bush at the APEC summit, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said at a cabinet meeting.

"We have every chance of releasing all the required official documents and completing the technical work by the time" of the summit, Gref was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"The talks have been completed on all of the most essential issues. What remains to be done is the settling of technical issues and preparation of all documents for signing," he said.

Russia -- the largest economy still outside the Geneva-based world trade body -- and the United States agreed on the terms of Russian accession to the WTO this past week after marathon talks that began in the early 1990s.

The United States had been the last major hurdle to Russia's longtime WTO bid, and Moscow expected to wrap up all talks on WTO entry by the year end.

Source: Xinhua