In a sign of just how certain the move appears to be, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden fully endorsed Russia’s ascension into the World Trade Organization Wednesday during a visit to the country.

“We strongly support Russia’s accession to the WTO,” Biden said.

“We are making real progress,” he added.

Russia has been trying to join the organization for roughly 17 years now, since moving toward market based reforms in the wake of the collapse of communism.

As of now, Russia is the largest national economy outside of the WTO. It has not been able to gain entry due to its failure to make the requisite reforms to its economy.

“We fully support [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev’s vision of a nation powered by innovation and modernization,” Biden said, according to multiple reports.

But Russia has failed to make all the reforms necessary. For one, the country is well-known as a hotbed for piracy and the theft of intellectual property. In fact, for 13 straight years, the nation has been on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watch list for intellectual property theft.

Biden acknowledged that the country has a long way to go in that area. According to him, American businesses are wary about investing in Russia under the circumstances.

“Investors are looking for assurances that the legal system treats them fairly and acts on their concerns swiftly,” Biden said.

Before Russia can gain entry, it will have to receive Permanent Normal Trade Relations status from the U.S., similar to the process China had to go through before it entered into the trade organization.

Russian officials seem to know that, which could allow American officials to force more concessions before they awarded Russia their needed status.

“We understand that the political success of this depends to a large extent on the US administration,” Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.

China’s gaining of PNTR status along with its entry into the WTO was a disaster for the American economy. It has resulted in the loss of 2.3 million jobs through 2007, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

But with the economy still mired in recession, U.S. officials are desperate for job creation.

“With the world economy recovering from a painful crisis we need to explore ways to realize the full potential of our relationship and generate more trade and investment,” Biden said.

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