Obama welcomes granting normal trade relations status to Russia

Published 7-12-2012, 01:41

The US President Barack Obama has said in a statement that he welcomes the fact that the US Senate approved a bill Thursday on granting Russia a permanent normal trade relations status, and that he is ready to sign it into law.

Obama said he is content that the House and the Senate have worked on a bipartisan basis on the bill to abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment on Russia, which makes it possible for the President to grant Russia the status of normal trade relations.

President Obama adds that he will be pleased to receive the approved bill and sign it into law.

The US Senate passed the combined Magnitsky-Jackson-Vanik trade and human rights bill Thursday.

The bill envisages sanctions on Russian officials allegedly linked to the 2009 death of the Hermitage Group lawyer Sergey Magnitsky in a pre-trial detention center as well as other human rights violators. At the same time it cancels the JV amendment which imposed trade restrictions on the USSR back in 1974 due to its emigration policy.

The Senate approved a version envisaging sanctions only against Russians, and not the earlier proposed draft which imposed sanctions on human rights abusers all over the world.

Voice of Russia