Obama promotes U.S.-Russian economic ties

MOSCOW, July 7 (UPI) -- A rejuvenated U.S.-Russian relationship goes beyond two presidents meeting -- it must tap into common success, U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

U.S.-Soviet relations must "be about our common prosperity," Obama told a group of Russian business leaders, "the jobs we create, the innovation we unleash, the industries that we build."

That's one reason why Obama said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev created the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission to explore new opportunities for partnership.

"Our commission reflects a fundamental truth of the global economy, and that is that prosperity is shared," Obama said.

"America seeks a prosperous Russia that partners with us on a broad range of issues," Obama said. "We want Russia to be selling us goods and we want Russia to be buying goods from us."

"A contracting global economy and shrinking trade means closed factories and lost jobs from North America to northern Russia," he said.

Russia and the United States are natural economic partners, he said.

"There are so many opportunities for cooperation," Obama said. "But ... to achieve this better future, we're going to have to do some work ... . We have to promote transparency, accountability, rule of law on which investments and economic growth depend."

He said he welcomed Medvedev's initiatives to promote the rule of law to ensure an effective legal system as a condition for sustained economic growth.

"So today, I hope that we've planted a seed -- a seed of new cooperation and new commerce," Obama said. "And now we must do the work of seeing that that seed grows into a relationship that advances prosperity for our peoples."