http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116317125808419823-mSwxFQD_H_tMaLaampplJT_snuQ_20061118.html?mod=regionallinks

MOSCOW -- Russia and the US say they will sign a landmark deal in the coming days paving the way for Russia to join the World Trade Organization -- a goal that Moscow has doggedly pursued for the past 12 years and that has been one of the key objectives of Vladimir Putin's presidency.

The breakthrough removes a major irritant in relations between Moscow and Washington that have been strained by disagreements over Iran and US accusations that Russia is backsliding on democracy and human rights and using energy to bully its neighbors.

"We have an agreement in principle and are finalizing the details," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. She said the deal "will mark an important step in Russia attaining membership of the WTO."

Russian officials said delegations of both countries were trying to make sure the deal would be ready for signing when Mr. Putin and President Bush meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum summit in Hanoi, Vietnam during the week.

The US is the only one of Russia's major trading partners that hasn't signed a bilateral trade deal with Moscow, provoking much frustration in the Kremlin. Russia had hoped to reach such an agreement in time for July's G-8 summit, which it hosted, and the failure to do so cast a pall over the meeting. Both countries set an informal deadline of the end of October, but a week of negotiations in Washington last month ended without progress.

Central to the deal was the resolution of a longstanding dispute over the safety of US beef and pork exports. Russia insisted on inspecting all US exporters' meat-production facilities before it agreed to lift restrictions on such imports. The results of the inspections, which took several months, were positive, according to a person close to the talks.

Meanwhile, the US appears to have made concessions on access to Russia's financial-services market. It had initially demanded that Moscow allow foreign banks and insurance companies to open branches in Russia. According to US trade officials, the final deal allows only insurance companies to open branches. But Russia agreed to allow the total share of foreign investment in the banking sector to rise to 50% from 25%, according to a person familiar with the talks.

Russia also agreed to improve protection and enforcement of intellectual-property rights -- a key issue for US copyright groups that have long complained about rampant compact-disc and computer-software piracy in Russia.

WTO membership would mark a milestone for Russia, demonstrating to the world that it adheres to the rules of global trade, has eradicated the last vestiges of socialism and is fully integrated into the world economy.

But the country faces several more months of negotiations before it can join the WTO. Once the bilateral deal with the US is signed, it must enter multilateral talks under WTO auspices in Geneva, which will set the final rules for its entry into the organization. Analysts say the US has kicked some of the more contentious issues in its trade talks, such as protection of intellectual-property rights, to the multilateral forum, and negotiations there could drag on for months.

Russia also has to wrap up bilateral deals with Costa Rica, Georgia and Moldova, and some officials in the latter two countries have threatened to block Russia's WTO accession in retaliation for trade sanctions Moscow has imposed on them.

In practical terms, WTO membership may have little impact for Russian companies, since the country's main exports -- oil and gas -- are rarely subjected to protective tariffs. But it would safeguard some companies, such as steel producers, from arbitrary sanctions while allowing Western companies greater access to the potentially huge Russian market for agricultural goods, aircraft and finance.

Last month, executives from 13 major US corporations, including Chevron Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Ford Motor Co., wrote to Messrs. Bush and Putin urging them to wrap up a WTO agreement, saying it was in the economic interests of both countries to reach a deal.

Andrew Somers, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, said the deal would give a huge boost to the US-Russian economic relationship. "This will facilitate the conclusion of major industrial transactions between US and Russian companies, including those in strategic sectors," Mr. Somers said.

Obstacles to Russia's WTO bid still remain. The US Congress must decide whether to approve "permanent normal trade relations," or PNTR, with Russia before it can join the WTO. That would entail removing a Cold War-era trade restriction known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment that linked US trade benefits to the emigration policies of communist countries.

Congress recently approved PNTR for Ukraine, which is hoping to join the WTO this year. But Russia is still subject to Jackson-Vanik, which it dismisses as an anachronism, and some in Moscow fear a Democrat-controlled Congress will be less likely to repeal it than a Republican one. Democrats have traditionally taken a harder line on Russia's human-rights record than Republicans.