Putin Pushing Clinton for Entry into WTO

Citing 17 years of attempting to be accepted into the World Trade Organization, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Hillary Clinton there could never be full cooperation between the two countries until that happened.

"We are very committed to Russia joining the WTO and have spoken with the president and cabinet members about how we can help to facilitate that happening," Clinton responded.

Putin used examples of working with companies like General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Boeing (NYSE:BA) for many years in Russia as reasons for going forward with economic agreement.

Frustrations were aired by Putin over "five Russian companies" which he said were under sanctions which had been initiated from the State Department.

Although unsure of the exact sanctions and companies Putin was talking about, it was assumed he meant those that had been selling technologies to Iran, Syria and North Korea.

There was also a request from Putin for the U.S. to help Russian companies enter the U.S. market to do business, with major raw materials companies like Severstal and Norilsk Nickel some he was alluding to.

Putin was also concerned over the declining trade between the two countries, which with U.S. trade in Russia plunging to a low level of $16 billion. That is a huge decrease from the $36 billion the year before.

Even with all the down news and concerns, Putin did feel like some progress had been made and that most of the major issues they two countries they were in agreement on.