URGENT: Russian, U.S. leaders to speed up Russia's accession to WTO

LONDON, April 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and U.S. leaders instructed their governments on Wednesday to make efforts to ensure Russia's swift accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We both pledged to instruct our governments to make efforts to finalize as soon as possible Russia's accession into the World Trade Organization and continue working towards the creation of favorable conditions for the development of Russia-U.S. economic ties," both leaders said in a joint statement.

Russia is the only major world economy still outside the WTO. The agreement of all 153 WTO members is necessary for a state to join the global trade body.