Updated on
Summary
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama have marked a thaw in ties between their countries on the Russian leader's first visit to the White House. Talking to media after their talks, Mr Obama said the pair had succeeded at resetting our relationship. He said the US was backing Russia's World Trade Organisation accession. Mr Obama also announced that Moscow would allow the US to resume poultry exports to Russia after a ban of almost six months. Our country is more secure and the world is safer when the US and Russia get along well together, Obama maintained. But, he added, there were some issues which the two countries did not agree on, such as the former Soviet republic of Georgia, with which Russia fought a brief war nearly two years ago. The two nations also agreed on humanitarian aid to Kyrgyzstan, following deadly ethnic clashes in the Central Asian country.The two leaders also stressed their cooperation on fighting terrorism, and reiterated a commitment to ratify a treaty signed in April to reduce nuclear weapons. Mr Medvedev visited Washington for a 47-nation nuclear summit in April but it was the first time he had been received at the White House. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama stressed on the need to have a Government in Pakistan that is effective in taking action against terrorist outfits in the country.We have to make sure that we've got a Pakistani government that is working effectively with us to dismantle these networks, Obama said as he reiterated his goal to dismantle and destroy Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
