Russia’s Medvedev hopes Obama, Biden visits will boost economic ties

(Interfax – July 11, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said he hopes the upcoming visits of US President Barack Obama and US Vice-President Joe Biden to Russia will strengthen Russian-US economic ties. He was speaking at the Innoprom industrial trade fair in Yekaterinburg on 11 July, as reported by Russian privately-owned Interfax news agency.

“I hope that the upcoming visit of the president of the United States of America to us, and the subsequent visit of the vice-president, Mr Biden, and the work between the government and the corresponding departments of the administration in the economic area will bear fruit,” Medvedev was quoted as saying.

He said that now the task is to step up Russian-American economic ties.

“Because political contacts are at times much more intensive, and to be honest more productive, while trade with the United States of America is not growing much, as you know, and investment is not too great either.”

Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at the G8 summit in Lough Erne (UK) in June to hold a Russia-US summit in Moscow on 3-4 September. The two leaders also agreed to expand dialogue between the US vice-president and the Russian prime minister.