PARIS (Reuters) - President Bush said in an interview to be published Friday he supported Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), despite a minor spat over Russian barriers to U.S. meat imports.
"Russia's WTO entry does not depend on the United States alone. All I can tell you is we support their bid," Bush said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro and four other foreign newspapers at the White House ahead of the June 1-3 Group of Eight summit in Evian, France.
Bush joked that he was glad that the main dispute between the United States and Russia -- the only major trading nation outside the WTO -- was over meat exports.
"I am happy to see that the most serious dispute between Washington and Moscow today is about American chicken exports to Russia. When you think that not so long ago our quarrels were about long-range missiles, I am pleased with the progress made," Bush was quoted as saying.
Despite recent friction over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly criticized, Bush said that bilateral relations remained strong.
"My personal relations with Vladimir Putin are so good that I can trust him," Bush said.
"We need to go beyond a personal relationship to build a strategic relationship covering all key issues. Whether it's about security, energy or agriculture, we must resolve our differences before they become problems."
Russia's WTO accession talks have been going slowly, and Russia's top trade negotiator Maxim Medvedkov said recently it was looking increasingly unlikely that negotiations would be concluded by the end of the year.
Putin has made entry into the global trade body a key part of his administration's campaign to bring Russia into the mainstream of the global economy.
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