THE long wrangle between America and Russia, the only major trading nation still outside the World Trade Organisation, is a potent symbol of the lingering suspicion between the two former superpowers and a mirror of the deteriorating relations between President Bush and President Putin.
Negotiations over Russia’s membership, which have dragged on for 13 years, have been marked by accusations of bad faith, of American foot-dragging and of brinkmanship. The agreement in principle to sign a deal in Vietnam on Saturday may mark a new starting point. President Putin was waiting at Vnukovo airport with flowers yesterday to welcome President Bush on a brief stopover in Moscow on his way to the international summit in Hanoi.
Yet enough obstacles remain, both in the US Congress