US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin confirmed yesterday that they plan to sign a bilateral deal next week for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the presidents confirmed that they would sign a protocol paving the way for Russia to join the WTO on the sidelines of an Asian economic meeting in Hanoi on Sunday.

Bush and Putin also discussed Iran and its nuclear programme during an "extraordinarily positive and friendly" meeting, Peskov added, without giving further details.

Bush was making a refuelling stopover at Moscow's Vnukovo airport and Putin travelled out to meet him an unusual step given the frosty state of US-Russia relations and the fact that the two men will meet again at the end of the week.

Relations between the two sides have been at their lowest ebb in years with Washington criticizing Putin's record on human rights and Russia's opposition to the Iraq War and Moscow sniping at what it sees as an overly aggressive US foreign policy.

Russian media and analysts have suggested that Washington may try to extract commitments from Moscow to tough sanctions against Iran in return for supporting Russia's WTO bid. Bush and Putin also discussed broader nuclear proliferation issues and the Middle East crises.

Agencies

Source: China Daily