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Russia, U.S. agree to fight corruption and mutual stereotypes

29 January 2010 04:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. An agreement on cooperation in the monitoring of corruption in Russia and the U.S. was reached between Russian negotiators and Transparency International during the first session of the Russian-U.S. working group on civil society, held in Washington on Wednesday.

The working group, jointly headed by Kremlin deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov and Obama’s top adviser on Russia Michael McFaul, was created as part of a Russian-U.S. presidential commission established in summer 2009, during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the Russian capital, Moscow.

A source in the Russian delegation said that one of the Transparency International top representatives, who took part in the Washington talks, told Russian negotiators about corruption in the U.S.

The Russian delegation spokesman said the Transparency International official agreed that cooperation with Russian organizations can be productive.

The source in the Russian delegation said the U.S. negotiators expressed their readiness to take steps to improve the situation.