Russian parliament votes to approve WTO accession

MOSCOW - Agence France- Presse

A Communist Party supporter holds puppets depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (R) during rally against Russia's impending membership of the World Trade Organization, WTO, just outside the Red Square in Moscow, on July 3, 2012. The supporter's hat reads: WTO. AFP PHOTO / ANDREY SMIRNOV

The Russian Duma lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to ratify the country's accession to the World Trade Organisation after 18 years of negotiations.

In an unusually tight vote for the Russian parliament, 238 Duma deputies backed the bill and 208 deputies opposed it, with one abstention. It will come into law 30 days after being signed by President Vladimir Putin.