US to normalise trade ties with Russia, retain right “to name and shame” over rights violations

US President Barack Obama has signed a bill into law, making the country's trade relations with former Cold War foe Russia back to ''permanent and normal'', in tune with the current global economic realities while at the same time keeping its right to publicly ''name and shame'' the country for human rights violations.

The bill passed by the Congress with an overwhelming majority, authorises the Obama administration to establish "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with Russia.

But, with the two countries already under the shadow of another, though much relaxed, Cold War, the measures are unlikely to push US-Russia trade any further.

The new law also directs Obama to bar Russian human rights violators from entering the United States and freeze any assets with banks in the US. There is a separate provision in the name of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian anti-corruption lawyer who, US senators allege, was beaten to death in a Russian jail in 2009.

The `Magnitsky' law provides for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators and allows the US president to keep some names classified if he finds it in the US national security interest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to react, calling it "a purely political and unfriendly act."