Russia on Friday secured a deal with the European Union on terms for its entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - and immediately rewarded the bloc by promising to back a world-wide environmental pact.
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Russian Trade Minister German Gref clinched the WTO deal at a summit in Moscow boosting President Vladimir Putin's goal of agreeing entry terms by the end of the year.
At a news conference following the deal, Putin immediately announced Russia would back the Kyoto protocol on global warming - support which his EU partners had been eagerly awaiting.
Linking the two issues, Putin said: "The fact that the EU has met us halfway in negotiations on the WTO could not but have helped Moscow's positive attitude to the question of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol."
"We will accelerate progress towards ratification," he added, though he added that he could not guarantee ratification of the Kyoto pact completely.
"I cannot say how things will be 100 percent, because ratification is not an issue for the president but for parliament, but we will speed up this process."
The fate of the Kyoto Protocol has depended on Russian approval since Washington pulled out in 2001, since it cannot come into force without the backing of developed nations responsible for 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The culmination of six years of talks on Russia's quest to be a member of the WTO and the allied issue of Kyoto dominated the agenda at the twice-yearly meeting, where Chechnya and human rights are perennial bones of contention.
The summit was the first since the EU added 10 new members, including eight which were in Moscow's sphere of influence until the fall of communism, and EU officials talk of a new maturity in an ever closer relationship with Russia.
"The European Union and Russia are like vodka and caviar. The truth is I don't know who is the vodka and who is the caviar, but we are moving in the right direction," European Commission President Romano Prodi told reporters before the final news conference.
Putin had wanted to agree terms for Russia's WTO membership this year and analysts portrayed the deal with the EU as a crucial milestone, since Moscow has yet to strike similar deals with other WTO members such as the United States.
Talks with the EU began with 160 problem areas six years ago and - with hours to go before the summit - had boiled down to three or four, with much haggling over the liberalisation of Russia's huge natural gas sector.
"What we're looking for is something that is as good for Russia as it is for the EU," Lamy said on Thursday.
Prospects for Russia voicing support for the Kyoto protocol had faded after many top officials and the scientific establishment had advised Putin against it.
One Kremlin source had said it would not even be on the agenda at the summit.
Putin's words at the news conference appeared to confirm the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to cut gas emissions that cause global warming, had been used as a bargaining chip in the trade talks.
On WTO, even though a trade deal has now been struck, investors hungry for a slice of Russia's energy-rich economy will have to wait a little longer before they can rely on WTO rules to cover them.
And though it has agreed terms with the EU, its main trading partner, Russia has yet to conclude similar deals with other WTO members, including the United States.
As well as deals with other WTO members, Russia may take years to pass laws needed to enforce WTO rules. Russia also insists that many of the changes demanded by the EU, especially in the gas sector, should be phased in over several years.
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