国际英语新闻：Obama, Medvedev vow to broaden bilateral cooperation

Russia, the biggest economy outside the WTO, has been seeking membership in the 153-nation World Trade Organization for 17 years. Its bid for joining into the organization has long been seen as one of major tests for U.S.-Russian relations.

"I'm confident that we can get this completed. And I am confident that President Medvedev and his vision for an innovative, modernized, energized economy are entirely consistent with Russia' s joining the WTO," said Obama. He also announced that the two governments have reached an agreement that will allow the United States to begin exporting poultry products to Russia once again.

President Obama told his Russian counterpart that he firmly believes America's most significant national security interests and priorities could be advanced most effectively through cooperation, not an adversarial relationship with Russia.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his visiting Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev walk out of the White House to attend a joint press conference following their meeting in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, June 24, 2010.(

Medvedev, who is described by Obama as a solid and reliable partner can listen to one another and speak candidly, told reporters that his country wants to deepen cooperation with the United States on trade, investment and innovation, as well as to increase Russia's business influence in the United States.

"We have done a lot to build confidence between our countries, we have made steps aimed at establishing a more firm construction of our relations, structure of our relations, and to a certain extent, we made our world safer. But this is not enough for bilateral economic ties to change," said Medvedev.

"This visit is generally mostly aimed at achieving these goals. We are ready for that now; our American partners are ready for the same thing," he told reporters.

During Medvedev's visit, the Russians have agreed to purchase 50 Boeing 737 airplanes from the United States. The sale , which is worthy of 4 billion dollars, would add up to 44,000 new jobs in the American aerospace industry.

According to Ben Rhodes, deputy National Security Adviser, both the Kremlin and the White House wanted to use Medvedev's visit to "spur people-to-people exchanges, business ties, increased investment in the Russian economy in a way that will be mutually beneficial."

In an unusual move, President Medvedev began his visit to the United States on Tuesday with the first stop in California's Silicon Valley by visiting well-known high-tech companies Google, Twitter, Apple and Cisco Systems, and Stanford University.

Experts said that the visit was the first in Russia's modern history that is not focused on geopolitical issues, but rather on economic and technological issues. The trade between the United States and Russia in the first four months of this year was 8.5 billion dollars, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

After the meeting in the White House, both presidents will travel to Canada for the G8 and G20 summits that scheduled on June 25 to 27.