The United States is living in the past by failing to repeal a Cold War measure that links trade with Russia to human rights, a senior Kremlin aide said on Tuesday. The Jackson-Vanik amendment, adopted in the 1970s, put curbs on US trade with the Soviet Union in response to Soviet restrictions on the rights of Jews and other religious minorities to emigrate.
"This legislation was adopted in the time of the Soviet Union as a reaction to discrimination by the Soviet authorities in terms of restricting people's movement," Kremlin foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko told a news conference. "Is anything like that happening now? Then why is this measure still in force? Russians are free to travel anywhere they want."
Powerful groups in the US Congress have opposed repealing the provision, citing concerns about the human rights record of President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin. The provision is also tied to Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), because if Russia accedes to the body, the United States would be required to give trade with Russia the same treatment as any other WTO member. Prikhodko said of the US politicians opposed to repealing the provision: "Maybe they do not come to Russia very often and do not know that indeed people can travel where they want to. We need to tell them about this."
Russia is the biggest economy still outside the trade club. It has signed a bilateral deal with the United States clearing the way for its accession. That deal still needs to be approved by Congress.
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