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A group of American lawmakers are currently busy with the job that President George W. Bush promised to his friend Putin. They are trying to abolish the ill-fated Jackson-Vanik amendment introduced with respect to Russia. Yesterday, a draft resolution was circulated in the US Congress.

The Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesman recalled that during the recent top-level meeting in St.Petersburg between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush the U.S. President had confirmed the fact that he himself and his administration were doing their best to abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment against Russia. It not only contradicts new Russian-U.S. relations but also directly impedes intensified business cooperation between the countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesman stressed.

PRAVADA, NOV 6 2003

Ministry official spokesman stressed.
Jackson-Vanik amendment to be annulled before this year's end

The Jackson-Vanik amendment with regard to Russia will be annulled before the end of this year. Senator Trent Lott from the state of Mississippi expressed this confidence after the meeting in the Federation Council (the Upper House of the Russian Parliament).

According to him, great attention is paid to this theme, and the work on annulling the amendment is in full swing now so that to remove the problem at all and leave it in the past.

At their meeting the delegations of American senators and their colleagues from Russia discussed the problems of security, trade and economy, as well as cultural and educational contacts.

At this meeting the senators also discussed the problems of control over the disposal and elimination of chemical weapons. As the American side pointed out, it is quite possible that in the future we shall discuss the problem of the control over the elimination of the nuclear weapons in Russia, the agreement on which was achieved at the G-8 summit in Canada.

PRAVADA, NOV 6 2003