Russia's President says the country will stop following the World Trade Organization's rules if Moscow is not admitted to the trade group.
Vladimir Putin made the comments Tuesday to a business group in Moscow.
Over the past decade, Russia has made agreements with numerous WTO members, but can't join unless it gets an agreement with one last nation - the United States.
Washington and Moscow have been haggling over protection for intellectual property, access to Russia's banking sector, and other issues.
A news report on Bloomberg says Russia is the largest economy still outside the WTO. Moscow is pressing to join before the G8 summit meeting that begins July 15 in Russia.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
